A Million Worlds Apart
by i.wish.i.was.number.seven
Summary: They say that the rules are meant to keep us safe, they say that they're meant to help us, and that they're supposed to heal us from the wrong doings of the generation before us, but they are wrong. The rules only divide us, and i'm tired of it. I'm tired of running, I'm tired of hiding. My name is Marina and i've risked too much to give up now, I'm ready to set this world on fire.
1. Chapter 1

30,578 dead. 789 injured. 321 missing. All effects of the war that destroyed the world as we all knew it. People wanted freedom, they received death. Death to the fighters and innocent. Death to the world thought to be beautiful. All of it, gone. Years and years of building a civilization, gone. And irreplaceable.

After years of being lost, people stood up and tried to take order, and people were so scared that they listened. To this day, people listen to those authorities and their offspring and follow all rules as they should. But these people called leaders weren't as good as you'd think.

They ruled with strict orders, wanting to keep peace and never start a great war ever again. But some of these people wanted what their elders did, freedom. These new leaders wanted everything strict and precise. No freedom to choose what you did. They let you marry, love, and work how you wanted. But all people were forced to live with strict working and school schedules that some didn't like. Most of all, people didn't like how they treated the poor. They would beat them for fun and entertainment.

Eventually, the survivors ended up split into three groups of people. The strong, the evil, and the neutral. These groups were known as the Resistance, the Rulers, and the Neutrals. The Resistance was the smallest of the groups, the outcasts, only the people who wanted a change in the evil society. They fought hard for freedom, but only so far have been satisfied with small acts of rebellion such as stealing. These rulers didn't like the Resistance, and they tired to kill all members of it entirely. But the Resistance were mainly secret members, undercover people disguised as everyday students or workers.

Neutrals were people who accepted the way society worked, they wanted peace and were fine with having strict rules, or so they thought. They were the real everyday students and workers. They went to school and had educations like they were supposed to, they would graduate and get the job the society assigned them. They would fall in love with whoever they chose, but it seemed to be unspoken, that that meant other Neutrals. Or in rare cases, Rulers. But they would never be in love with members of the Resistance. Not in a million years. It was against their nature.

So you see, these Neutrals didn't like the Resistance. They were sworn enemies, because the Neutrals accepted the way the world was ruled and the Resistance didn't. The Neutrals despised the Resistance and their foolish ways. But don't get it wrong, the Resistance thought the Neutrals were weak rule-followers. So, they don't usually agree on things, just keep that in mind.

Another important thing was that most of the resisting people were men. There were some girls now and then, but it wasn't exactly normal. Girls usually were viewed as people who always followed the rules, and so they did.

Now, that was just the background, not the story. This story is about a boy and a girl. A boy who loved change and a girl who loved peace. This story is about their friends, trying to convince them that they are on different sides for a reason. This story is about power, bravery, resistance, tragedy, but most of all, love. This is the story about the tragic love story, that ended up bringing the world to its knees.


	2. Chapter 2

Marina

I'm running. That's all i can really understand. I'm running in the woods and it's really, really dark. I see shadows casting across the sky from the hundreds of trees scattered around me. I get distracted and trip and I fall to the ground with a crash and quickly try to regain my balance. In a few seconds, i'm up and running again and continuing to run through what seems to be an old forest outside my house. I hear shouting from behind me, which only propels me to go faster. What am I running from? I cant tell in the dim lighting but I can feel adrenaline rushing through me as I continue to push past the trees in the dark forest. Flashlight beams suddenly break through the line of trees in front of me and I freeze. My hearts racing and I can tell i'm supposed to be scared but all I can feel is an indescribable emotion pulsing through me. I feel almost, alive.

I see cars pulling out from behind the trees and coming straight toward me. I start sprinting again and duck under the nearest bush I can find. Sirens are starting to blare through the quiet night and I force my mind to think through and process my decisions. I crane my head behind me to see that whoever is driving the cars, doesn't seem too interested in me because they are still sitting there with their sirens screeching through the night. I decide if I run to my left, I could get away, if I run fast enough that is. I'm start leaning out of my crouching position, ready to start running again when a thought strikes my mind. Why am I running away from them? The Rulers have always taught us that when you have done something wrong, which is highly discouraged, to turn yourself in immediately and take responsibility for my actions. But then, why am I not running to the cars? Something tells me they wouldn't let me go, for whatever I did. You know what, it's time to follow Maren's motto, the motto i never follow, be a rebel once in a while, it could be fun. Well, time to have fun.

I jerk my body up quickly and sprint my way in the opposite directions of the cars. I keep running and I don't look back, too scared to see that they've already started gaining up on me. I don't realize how long i've been running until I notice i've been breathing in heavy pants. I look up at the the sky anxiously, trying to distract myself from the fear i'm feeling at this point. When I look up past the trees I see millions of stars glistening like little holes in the galaxy. I've always loved the stars. They have always been the one thing that the Rulers couldn't control and cover up. They were always there, and no one could do anything about it. They were free.

Then before I know it, I feel something slam into my body hard and I curse myself immediately for being careless again and getting myself distracted. I rub my head and groan as I look up only to be grabbed around the waist and pulled against a tree. Before I can scream, a strong hand clasps over my mouth and the arm around me tightens, as if telling me not to anything. Looking around confused, I see an authority rush past us with a flashlight, no doubt looking for me. I get even more frightened as the hand on my mouth does move, even as the authority moves away from our sight. I start to squirm out of my saviors grasp and they finally release me and sharply turn back to look at them.

When I turn, I see a tall, but not too tall, boy standing in front of me. He looks about my age, if not a little older. He has unruly black curly hair that looks crazy and is sticking at random angles but I think it looks beautiful. He's tan and is pretty muscular, but not enough where i'd say he's bulky. But the thing that interests me most are his eyes. His bright green eyes that sparkle, even in the faint moonlight. He looks at me with curiousness too, as if he's studying me.

"Are you alright?" he asks, his voice low and melodious. I can tell he's out of breath too and is panting like me. I try my best to speak but the words die down in my throat. I gather myself and try to say them again but with my heavily beating heart, and those bright worrisome eyes, i can't. So instead, I just nod and when I do, he shines a bright smile at me, shockingly bright in this dim lighting and against his tan complexion, but it leaves me breathless all the same.

"Oh good. Wouldn't want to leave a pretty girl hurt on our first meeting" he teases, grinning at me. Then he does something that shocks me even more, he winks, _winks,_ at me, then runs off again with one final smile, leaving me breathless. I look around for any sign of my mystery guy, but he seems to have disappeared. I sigh in confusion and look woods again, now wondering where all the people have gone. _She's coming back,_ a voice whispers and my head snaps forward in confusion. _Come on Marina, get up before she catches you,_ it says again but slightly louder. _Marina!_

I jerk my head up to see that i'm not in the forest anymore, i'm in a classroom. I look around nervously and a terrible thought dawns on me. I must have fallen asleep in class again, but what's even worse than that, is that I have a very angry teacher standing in front of me.

"This is the third time this has happened this week, Marina" Ms. Jackson scolds, "I let you off with warnings before, but I think that it's time we reinforce the rules" she states, and slams a note down on my desk. I jump a little in shock and I hear snickers from my other classmates. I look to my side to see Maren shrugging helplessly and mouth, _I tried to warn you._ I sigh and nod, carefully reading my note my angry math teacher gave me, telling me to go the principals office. I wince and quickly grab my things of my desk while my cheeks flare with embarrassment and I rush out the door, hearing more laughs behind me and Maren telling the, to shut up. I smile to myself at her support and walk down the hallway slowly, taking my time in reaching the principals office, partly because I don't know where it is, and partly because i'm not in the mood to get lectured.

What i'm confused about even more is my dream, it felt so real. The boy, the woods, the fear, everything was so vivid, it doesn't make any sense. Dreams aren't supposed to happen the more you grow up. It's an effect of all the prescriptions they make the whole town take. They say it keeps us from getting infections, but for some reason I don't quite believe that either.

When I finally arrive, I knock shyly on the door and hear a low voice grumble,

"Come in!"

I open the door to see Principal Fitzgerald relaxing in his seat while looking through student files. He shifts his eyes to me suspiciously as I walk in and gestures for me to sit. He raises his eyebrows and opens his mouth to speak but before he has the chance to talk, I hand him the note and look down at the ground in shame.

"Falling asleep in class, for three times in a row. I see" he muses, stroking his chin. Mr Fitzgerald is a very... round, bald guy with a very full grey beard and has very scary looking gray eyes. He's a really intimidating guy which doesn't help my nervousness on getting in trouble.

"Is there something going on with your parents at home?" he asks curiously and I almost laugh out loud at the irony of the question, but I also still feel a pang of sadness thinking about my life story.

"I live with my friend Maren Elizabeth" i start quickly, explaining my living situation for what seems to be the hundredth time. "my parents died in the war" Fitzgerald's eyes quickly avert from mine as he starts to blush.

"Oh my that's awful" Fitzgerald gasps. It shocks me that he doesn't know this already, we have a small school and he's never met my parents at a teacher conference, i wonder why he didn't figure this out already.

"Well uh..." he drifts off again, looking at me uncomfortably. "i'll let you off with another warning alright. I have a busy schedule and don't have time to babysit. You may go now, Miss Reyes" he states strictly, his earlier mood disappearing. I have a double take when he uses my birth last name, no one has called me that in years. But i don't dwell on this quite longer, worrying that he might change his mind and punish me, so i quickly grab my things again, mutter a quiet thank you and leave quickly.

I'm walking back to my locker when I glance out the window in the hallway to see some boys hanging around outside. They look like they should be in school right now, because they all look about my age. I study them and notice that they all have the same small tattoo on their neck, a star. I freeze in shock. They are members of the Resistance. I've never seen any of them in person before and i've always pictured them scarier than this. These boys seem actually quite normal, and nice too. They're laughing at something one of the guys said. I look to the guy they're all laughing at and my heart stops. It's the boy from my dream. The boy in the forest. The one with the bright green eyes and contagious smile. At this very moment, he turns to look at me and grins when he sees me watching him. He winks at me and starts to laugh again and I turn with a start.

I start running down the hallways, trying to control the queasy feeling in my stomach. And even though I should be wondering why I dreamed about this guy before even meeting him, my mind drifts to a totally different thought, that something about him makes me feel nervous, it makes my stomach feel lighter and my heart beat a little faster. It's all fear, i tell myself. You're scared of him, but this doesn't reassure me as much as I thought it would, because the more I think about it, the more I don't believe myself.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Thank you to the two reviewers I loved them both, and everyone's support is what keeps this tory alive so please like and review. It would mean a lot!**

 **And sorry this chapter is a little shorter than the last one, it's really late right now.**

Joseph

I wake up to the sound of yelling. Huh, wonder who that could be. Before I open my eyes, I try to regain the knowledge of where I am. I'm in the sleeping quarters of the Cave. Right. I'm still not quite used to being part of the resistance. Some of my friends had convinced me to join, and I had already believed that the society was unfair, just not as strongly as they did. I finally decide to open my eyes, but still groggily and I moan quietly as the familiar voices continue to shout.

"John! Where the hell is my bagel? You motherfu-" Stanley screams like a banshee. Stanley is kind of a hot head, if you couldn't already tell, but he's been my bro after my parents died a couple years ago, and despite how much of a jerk he is, it's nice to keep him around. I slowly turn my head to John's side of the rom and I see him shrug innocently.

"In my stomach" he replies casually. Stanley's face heats up at once, and he pounces at him with wide eyes. John quickly grabs his fists and turns him around so he has him in a headlock. Stanley looks like he's about to try and break free to punch John in the face, but I interrupt before he has the chance.

"Hey hey hey" I begin sitting up and rubbing my head. "Calm down, just steal John's bagel tomorrow and everything will be okay" I hold my hands out in front of me like i'm talking to a violent animal, which isn't very different than talking to Stan. Stanley mumbles something about how no one ever sticks up for him and John lets go of him easily and we roll our eyes. Stanley seems to calm down a bit and decides to sit back in his spinning chair.

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" I ask cheerfully, knowing that they both get annoyed by it easily. Tellingly, they both roll their eyes and Stanley turns to me with accusing eyes.

"Nothing. If your just going to spend your day winking at scared little girls" he says nonchalantly. At first I don't understand what he's talking about but then the memory strikes me. He's referring to that Neutral girl in the school yesterday. I shrug at him, a grin sneaking up onto my face. The girl was pretty cute, and Stanley had pointed her out to me in the first place.

"You're just jealous she thought I was hotter than you" I tease him, he glares at me instantly, but I do see what be a but of sadness on his face, but he quickly shrugs it off and grins slyly.

"Whatever, i'm more into blondes anyway" he says, shrugging off the conversation and turning away to look at his bed. I'm not sure what has upset him so much, it surely can't just be because of this girl. I open my mouth to say something, something I know i'll regret as soon as it comes out.

"You know what, you can have her. She's all yours" I say raising my hands in retreat and putting on a fake funny-boy smile. He turns to look at me again with a look of curiosity on his face.

"Oh trust me, I don't think she could handle all this" he states cockily, gesturing to his shirtless self, and I mentally sag in relief. I'm not really sure why, I won't ever see this girl again anyways, there's no point in worrying about her. Like i said, i'm still new to this whole, bad guy stealing thing. John looks up from his phone, the one I didn't even realize he was holding before, and the screen lights up.

"Cole wants us in Central in ten" he says shoving this phone in his pocket and moves away from his bed to put on his shirt. I know I should too, but i'm not quite sure I trust myself with words after thinking about that girl, so I just nod and they continue to get ready. Cole is the head instructor and is kind of, in a way, our leader. But we aren't supposed to call it that because that's what the Resistance is all about after all. I wish I knew this girls name, that way I could refer to her by name, other than using, 'that girl' all the time. And I feel kind of disappointed when a i think abort the probability that i'll see her again. She really did look like a special girl, and her eyes...

"Joseph!" Stanley is suddenly in front of me, snapping his fingers in my face. His smirk widens as my mind snaps back to reality.

"Were going to head down to Central, we'll see you there bro" he says hitting my shoulder and then leaving, his smirk only growing with every step he takes. He obviously knows a i was thinking about a girl and he loves teasing me when ever I do, because it isn't very often. I sit there for a few more moments i'm silence before getting up and getting dressed. I decide to take the long route to Central because i'm not really in the mood for a big fancy meeting. I'm sure that Cole won't care that much, he'll just yell at me then get over it.

I walk through the courtyard of the Cave and look over my shoulder to see the university near by. The university is where all of the neutrals go to school to learn and all that, something i'm all too familiar with. I used to be like every other neutral this time a couple months ago. John, Stanley and I have been friends since we were born. But, they were born into the Resistance and I wasn't. It didn't really put a divide between us, were all just a couple of friends from different parts of the world.

I'm about to enter the main building leading to Central when I hear a laugh behind me. I turn abruptly to see two girls walking out of the University. They are two girls about my age, one looking slightly younger while the other is... familiar. The younger looking one says something. causing them to both to burst out laughing. The older girl moves out a little more in front of the other and I get a clearer view of her, only to realize that it's her. She's the girl from, well, the school. Her and her friend continue to walk to a small silver car and the girl hops into the passenger seat. They continue to sit there and talk and I debate whether or not to go over and ask for her name. Im start walking towards their car, but only get a few steps before I hear a male shout from inside Central. I turn with a start to see it's Stanley, beckoning me to come inside.

"Come on bro! The meeting started five minutes ago and you're missing all the fun" he says actually smiling, unlike the sly smirk he usually shows. He continues to gesture for me to follow him inside and I look longingly at the silver car starting to pull away. Should I walk away from Stanley to get the girls name? No, of course not. I'd surely got yelled at. She is a neutral after all. I should have walked over there earlier, not just stood there like an absolute idiot. With a frustrated sigh, I turn away and walk after Stanley. The girl and I wouldn't have worked anyway, we have no time for romance. We have to be game plan one hundred percent of the time, that's what Cole says anyway. We are from two different worlds after all, and that's how it's going to have to be.

 **Please review what you liked and any questions you have!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you again for the reviews! You all honestly keep this story going so if you want me to continue PLEASE let me know! And if you guys want other POVS other than Marina and Joseph let me know!**

 **Answer to Guest: I'm not planning on them having legacies so that's what it sounds like right now but i may change my mind!**

 **On with the story!**

Marina

"Would you stop stressing out about this?" Maren's annoyed tone immediately snaps me out of my day dream. Maren stands in front of me, her hair in a messy bun and in a gigantic t-shirt, but she still looks beautiful. I look down shyly at myself, again finding myself to be insecure about myself around her. We've been at home for a couple of hours now, and the sun is starting to set gradually outside.

"What if they suspend me for falling asleep in class so many times?" I protest and Maren shakes her head disappointedly. We've also been fighting about what we think my punishment will be, for hours.

"They already let you go with a warning, so don't worry about it" she reassures me, then slowly gets up to start putting her school things away. I've been living with Maren since I was five years old. My parents died in the first resisting war and her parents didn't participate, so here they are. Maren and I have always gotten along, with only some occasional fights, but it's nothing ever too serious since we always come back home to living together. My mind seems to drift away from my thought process as I look out the window at the rising stars. The sun is currently starting to set, making the sky burst with light pinks and purples.

"Hey Maren?" I ask quietly. She responds by turning her head in my direction again and raising her eyebrows. I've really been considering telling her about this boy I keep on seeing, but I don't know how she'll respond to it.

"Yes?" she answers teasingly with a cheeky grin, which makes me start to blush, she can always tell when i'm nervous.

"So uh... well... when i was-" I stutter nervously and I can't seem to force the words out. Why is it so hard to tell her about this boy i've been seeing, and why can't I control these damn butterflies in my stomach.

"Spit it out, Marina" she says without hostile, just a teasing little light in her eyes. I take a deep breath and say every word in one exhale.

"There's this boy that I was dreaming about in class today and I had never seen him before but then I saw him when I was walking back to class and then this afternoon I saw him again and uhm yeah it's freaking me out a lot" I say in relief, after I finish I sag back into my chair and close my eyes as Maren sits there in silence, thinking about her response.

"Is he hot?" is what she settles on and I think I start to choke. She just sits there waiting for her response, without thinking she's done anything wrong. She still doesn't understand what i'm trying to say.

"That wasn't the point" i say accusingly as she simply shrugs and plays with a stray thread on her backpack.

"You didn't answer the question" she responds with another teasing grin causing my cheeks to flare up once more.

"Yes he was pretty... good looking, but what i'm saying is he wasn't a Neutral like us" I say carefully as Maren still seems unfazed.

"Oh I get it, my little Marina attracted the attention of a Ruler, what a lucky girl" she says reaching over to ruffle my hair. I bat her hand away as she simply continues to smile.

"No, Maren you don't understand! If you really want me to say it then fine! He was part of the Resistance!" I say starting to raise my voice, but just slightly, I don't want to fight with Maren. At once her eyes widen and she leans forward close to me and grabs my hand.

"Marina listen to me" she says, her voice quiet but dangerous. I try to pull away from her grasp but she just tightens her grip. "If you ever see that guy again, you run and tell the authorities, okay?" She looks at me with anxious eyes, filed with support but also with something i've never seen on Maren, fear. I try again to pull away but I realize she won't pull away until I have her the answer she wants.

"Yeah, okay, I will" I say, still shaken by her anxiousness. She breathes out in relief and lets go of my hand. She slowly walks back over to her bed, looking like she's trying to shake the image of me and a Resistance member out of her head.

"Hey if it's okay, i'm going to go on a quick run before we go to sleep" I breathe suddenly. She nods her head, still not meeting my eyes. I nod to her one last time and quickly run out of the room, suddenly very desperate for fresh air. I briskly walk to the door and pull on my running shoes and a small jacket, briefly telling Maren's parents where i'm going. The second I step out the door, i get a sharp chill through my body from the wind. I take a few deep breaths and start off in a fast jog.

Maren's sudden outburst still has me freaking out, she seemed truly scared when I told her about this boy I keep seeing. It's not like she really has anything to worry about, I don't even know this guys name.

I continue to jog past the hundreds of trees surrounding the neighborhood, very familiar to the background to the dream I had earlier today. I find my eyes drifting to the ground just in front of me, studying the dirt patterns sprawled out across the forest floor. The wind starts to pick up again and I almost lose my balance and slam into the tree next to me. I gasp a few times, not even realizing until now just how much i've ran. I turn my face abruptly to where the house should be, but only see a net of trees stretching out for miles as far as I can see. I guess that I must have run more than I thought, but it also looks like i'm very lost.

I look around me again, trying to figure out how I can get back to the house, seeing how it's already starting to get dark outside. The sun has already sunken over the horizon and is gone way past the tree line, and the moon is starting to come into view. I'm about to randomly choose a direction to follow to find my way back when i see a man standing a few feet away, not facing me. He's leaning his back against a tree and is smoking a cigarette.

"Excuse me" I say quietly, walking over to the man slowly. "I'm a little but lost, do you think you could point me back to-" I freeze as the man turns around and looks at me with a hostile grin. He looks about 30 years old and has dark wrinkles all over his face. He throws the cigarette he was smoking to the ground and slowly grinds the little fire into the ground with the toe of his shoe.

"Go ahead, continue" he grumbles, his voice low and scratchy. He strides toward and tries to change the grin on his face into something friendly, but fails miserably.

"Um as I was saying, I-" i stop suddenly again as the man gets so close he strokes my arm 'gently' but it feels more like a scratch than a touch. My heart starts to speed up rapidly and and my breath hitches in my throat.

"Oh come on, don't pretend you don't want more than a little help" he whispers hoarsely. He starts to push closer to me but I keep taking steps backwards to avoid any closer contact. My mind scrambles for ways to get out of his grasp but I can't seem to focus on one single idea. He backs me up into a tree and I jump a little, he leans in closer to me and nestles his head into my hair, I keep struggling but he wraps his hands around my wrists and holds them against the tree.

"Just a few minutes, baby" he murmurs hoarsely against my neck and I quickly jerk my head to the side, knocking him away from me and he swears under his breath.

"You little bitch!" he exclaims, raising his hand and bringing it down hard to slap me. I shriek our in pain and try to kick his body away from mine.

"Help!" I scream, my voice coming out strangled, weak. "Please." I beg again as the man pinches my chin and bringing my face swiftly to his before he drops it suddenly. I hesitate, furrowing my eyebrows in shock, but still not missing the chance to kick his unconscious body off mine. I'm too busy gasping for breath to look up at the person who saved me. Placing my hands on my knees, I cough to try and get the smell of his breath out of me.

"It's you"

My eyes widen nervously as I recognize the voice all too well. After all, it is the voice i've been thinking about the past two days. I look up slowly and I swear time freezes and the world around us goes quiet, it's only him and I. The boy with the green eyes and contagious smile. It's him, I finally found him.

 **Haha sorry to leave you guys on a cliff hanger, not really :)**

 **Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! I am super sorry for the late update but I hope that the slightly longer chapter makes up for it! Also, I want to get to 10 reviews after this chapter! That would be great.**

 **Sooo I hope you all don't mind i'm doing a Marina POV again this chapter but I just like writing in her POV better than in Jospeh's especially in their moments together but next chapter you guys will get to see a Maren POV! Onto the story!**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own lorien legacies, just this story plot :)**

Marina

So, two things are on my mind right now. One of them, is wondering if I should take Maren's very serious advice and run away from this guy right now, or stay and finally learn something about the guy i've been so curious about lately. When my mind settles on the latter, the realization of what's happening really sinks in.

I can't believe it. I really can't believe it. This isn't real, no way did I actually just find the boy i've been thinking about for the past two days. The guy who has been clouding my mind with thoughts of him and only him, all day.

"You-you know me?" I whisper, and I shut my mouth quickly to stop my lip from shaking. I need to calm myself down, i'm letting myself freak out over a boy who's name I don't even know.

"Of course I know you!" he whispers excitedly, it seems like he's in shock too, because he's looking at me like i'm a puzzle he's trying to figure out. Then suddenly, as quick as his excitement was there, it's gone. He leans back against the tree behind him and crosses his arms, suddenly showing no emotion. "Your the girl I keep seeing everywhere I go" he muses, seeming much calmer. I stare at him puzzled, he just changed his entire composition from excited, to being all, calm and cool.

"Yeah, I am" I retort, slightly harsh, but watching him acting all calm about this meeting when i've been waiting for this moment all day infuriates me. I cross my arms and raise an eyebrow at him defensively.

"Have you been following me?" I snap, my anger finally expressing itself. But he seems to still be unfazed by my anger and just chuckles. I look at him, alarmed, he thinks this is funny?

As his laughter diminishes, his look turns serious once more, "Are you alright? After all of that, I mean" he says cooly, gesturing to the unconscious man on the floor. When I don't respond he continues nervously, "Cause I hope you weren't dating him or anything-I didn't mean it like that it's just... well I heard you scream and I thought you were in trouble but obviously you shouldn't date him anyways, you could do much better" he rambles, and I can't tell in the darkness but I think I see a faint blush on his cheeks.

"What happened to being all cool, and collected" I reply, grinning triumphantly as I see his excited self break back through. He looks at the floor, looking slightly embarrassed. "Do you know the way back to the city?" I ask confidently, having him look so nervous makes me somehow less nervous about being around this guy. He nods quickly, beginning to walk and I follow him. We walk side by side in silence for a few minutes until we exit the forest and are walking the sidewalk back to my house. The house is still about ten minutes away walking distance so we still have lots of time, he must sense this because the boy breaks the silence.

"The reason I was acting all cool was because that's what Stanley always tells me to do. He says girls like it when I act all tough" he states, his shy mood evaporating into a cheerful one. I smile and nod along, even if i don't know who Stanley is.

"Oh really? Well I prefer boys who actually seem to enjoy talking to me" I retort, laughing happily. He laughs too, his cheerful mood seeming to radiate off of him and affecting me, because I feel like i'm flying. I've never felt this light hearted before and I find myself enjoying it far more than I should. I keep thinking about Maren and how should we want me sprinting away any second, but at the moment I can't find it in me to care.

"So, what's the name of this mysterious girl who i keep seeing recently?" he muses teasingly. I raise my eyebrows and at him, trying to hide the constant blush on my cheeks.

"Marina" At once he looks surprised, as if it's not the kind of name he had been expecting.

"Marina, I like it" he muses, the name rolling off his tongue smoothly. Thinking about the way he says it so nicely makes me excited, mostly because he seems to say it differently then he does other words.

"What's your name?" I ask quietly, the adrenaline starting to fade from me, causing my shy self to break through once more.

"Joseph, Joseph Burns" he says, dramatically sticking out his hand for me to shake. A nervous giggle escapes my lips and his grin widens as he hears it.

"Well" I continue dramatically after shaking his hand, "it is very delightful to meet you" I curtesy, motioning to my invisible dress. He grabs my hand swiftly and gently pulls it to his mouth.

"Oh trust me," he mumbles against my hand before kissing it swiftly, "the pleasure is all mine" Another blush creeps it's way onto my cheeks and I pull away my hand while smiling at him kindly. We continue to walk for a little while before we decide to exchange phone numbers. He tells me a little more about himself, leaving out any details of being in the resistance.

"So, where do you live? I meant uh- not in like a creepy way of course it's just- i was only trying to-" he stutters over his words for a while more until I gently put my hand on his arm. I smile while releasing a short laugh and he seems to relax again.

"I live up the street, about a block or so from here" he nods his head along and looks forward to where i was talking about. When he turns his neck I can't help but stare at the small star constellation on his neck. It shows three small stars in a small triangle formation, all somehow seeming to shine despite only being drawings on skin. He turns his head back to me, catching my stare and chuckling, but I still notice how he self consciously rubs his neck where the tattoo is. He plays it off well though, by starting to run his hand through his head full of black curls.

"Pretty weird huh? I never really loved the idea of getting a tattoo but you do what you have to do to have some sort of family, you know?" He says breaking the silence again, whispering as he gets to the end of his sentence. I nod mutely, continuing to look at the ground in front of me. I do get what he means, I know what it means to not have a family and the feeling of doing whatever you can to get that back. But something tells me that his story isn't simply just losing his parents like I did.

"What do you...?" I trail off as we pass a large tree and Maren's house starts to come into view, and even worse, Maren so standing on her front porch. My eyes widen in fear as I quickly turn Joseph, and he gives me a worried look when he sees my horrified expression.

"Marina? What's wrong are you-?"

"You need to leave now." I say seriously pushing him back the way we came. He looks at him with confusion, but also with an indistinguishable emotion. One that I might have confused with hurt. He grabs my hands that were pushing his chest and looks at me intensely.

"What are you doing?" He says, I try to continue pushing him away but when he looks at me with those eyes it makes it almost impossible. I glance back at Maren standing on her porch, still not have seen us yet. Jospeh follows my gaze and sees her and his hands drop away from mine. He turns away from me with a look of anger and starts to walk away briskly.

"Wait! Don't go, I didn't mean it like-" I start but he just continues to walk without looking me in the eyes. I quickly walk forward trying to catch up to him but he continues to walk faster than me.

"Oh no, I totally get it. You don't want to be seen with 'A Resistance member'. Well let me save you the trouble" He said, starting to raise his voice, but still refusing to look at me.

"That's not what I was trying to do!" I say raising my voice at him also, his agitated mood starting to effect me too. "and either way, you don't need to be such a baby and over react about it" I mumble quietly and he turns to me with his eyebrow raised.

"Oh i'm a baby? I'm not the one scared to be seen with a resistance member!" he shouts, especially raising his voice at the end of his statement. I glare at him before looking around us to make sure no one heard what he said, but either way we should wrap this up soon, people will start to wake up if we keep shouting. I decide to stay quiet and not try and argue with him, because he frankly wasn't wrong.

"You know what? I can't believe i've been wasting my time thinking about you for the past two days just because you're pretty. I'm going home." he whisper yells, coming to the same conclusion as me. As i walk back to house, where Maren was no longer standing, I fume silently about Jospeh yelling at me. But as I press my back to the inside of our cold front door, I can't help but keep a smile off my face.

After all, he called me pretty.

 **Kinda rough first meeting huh? But don't worry they will be seeing each other again soon.**

 **Please review! Remember 10 reviews by the next chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! I'm back with an early update because I got inspired! Welcome back and I hope you have been having an extraordinary day! I know some of you were upset with the ending of the last chapter but I promise they are going to make up soon! Also, I wanted to know who's POV you want next chapter? Leave a review letting me know! Onto the story!**

Maren

I run a hand through my hair in frustration and tap my foot impatiently. I feel bad for yelling at Marina the way I did but it isn't like her to be hung up on some boy, let alone someone like a resistance member. Yelling at her probably wasn't the best way to deal with it, it obviously freaked her out so much she didn't even want to be in the same room as me. Honestly I was just trying to look out for her, i've had my own bad share with some resistance members and I don't need her making the same mistakes I did.

After waiting for Marina on the porch for ten minutes for her to return from her walk, I go back inside the house and pull out my phone. I'm about to dial her number and call when I hear a door close and a sigh. I turn with a start to see Marina pressed against the door with a small smile lighting her face.

"Marina?" I say cautiously, wondering if she's lost her mind. She looks at me, alarmed as if she didn't know I was standing here. The smile forcefully disappears from her face and she looks at the ground quickly.

"Uh hi... Maren" she mumbles quietly under her breath. My eyebrows raise comically and I give her a small teasing grin.

"Are you okay?" I ask lightly, trying to improve her mood. It seems to work and she looks up at me with a sad smile.

"Not really" she says, trying for a happy smile but failing miserably. My protective sister instincts kick in naturally and I grab her arm and yank her towards our bedroom. I ignore her surprised protests and sit her down on the bed quickly.

"What happened on your walk?" I whisper yell at her, trying to not wake my parents sleeping a few rooms i've from us. Marina hesitates and just continues to look at me nervously while biting her lip. A thought dawns on me instantly and my eyes widen in surprise, but I try to keep myself cool and cross my arms. "You better have not went to see that boy Marina or so help me..." I drift off and her eyes widen quickly.

"No of course not! I would never do that, it's just..." she starts, not bothering to finish her sentence. I choose to believe her because Marina has never tried lying to me before and I can't find a reason why she would start now.

"Marina..." I trail off with a warning tone in my voice. She looks as she is trying to fight the urge of telling me whatever she is hiding but she fails and sighs in defeat.

"Ok, ok. I didn't want to tell you and make you freak out, but at got cornered by some guy and he was trying to um... kiss me and stuff" she rambles looking at the ground. I feel anger quickly blaze through me at the though of Marina being helplessly trapped under some prick's hold and being forced to make out with him.

"What did he look like? Do you think he goes to our school? Wait! How old is he? Did he like really touch you? Did you-"

"Maren!" she cut off, chuckling under her breath, "I'm fine, he was about our age but i haven't seen him at school before. So please, don't worry about it." She stands up to grab my hand and rub it gently. She knows I get like this pretty often, i've always been really protective of the people I care about. Even if it does only limit to Marina and my parents. I've learned that if my attention goes to someone outside those three, dangerous things happen. Things that I will never let happen to Marina or me ever again.

Marina smiles at me knowingly, seeming to read my thoughts, and pulls me into a tight hug. I hug her back even tighter and we stand there for a little while without letting go. Marina has really been there for me ever since we met, she's the only one I get this emotional with because i know that it's okay. Which is why I freaked out so much when she mentioned that boy, because I don't want her repeating my mistakes. We let go of each other and Marina's phone buzzes gently on the bed. Marina furrows her eyebrows in confusion and walks over to read the message. When she does, her face lights up and she lets out a small sigh.

"Everything okay?" I ask, raising my eyebrows teasingly. She gives a small nod as she walks down to her official setup on an air mattress on the floor, continuing to smile. She texts back so fast i'm afraid her fingers may fall off. I just roll my eyes and get under my grey bed covers. I turn off the lamp next to me, filling the room with darkness. I can still hear Marina texting away and a peaceful smile settles over my face watching her smile at the illuminated screen of her phone like there's not a worry in the world. She really does deserve peace more than anybody. And with that final thought, I drift off into a very unpleasant sleep.

I'm back at the old Crestwood library, the one about 10 blocks from my house. It's the dream that had haunted me for a year, but I haven't had this nightmare since two months ago. He's standing about five feet away from me, his hair along with his clothes are soaking wet from the thunderstorm taking place around us.

"Maren-" he started trying to come closer to me.

"No! Stay away from me!" I said, putting my hands in front of me like I was trying to calm down an animal. A flash of pain goes through his eyes and then is replaced with a pleading look.

"I didn't want you to to find out like this..." He furrows his eyebrows and gives me the most innocent look he probably could ever give.

"Then how was I going to find out? How were you going to tell me that you were part of the Resistance" I spit at him, making the last word sound like the worst insult in the world, because for him, it probably is.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to hate me just because of it!" he reasons. He starts to pace back and forth, not making any more moves to get closer to me. I feel a hard gush of cold wind that almost knocks me off my feet while rain continues to pour from the black sky.

"Y-You know that it's not like that, it's my parents" I stutter, my voice filled with pain and tears start to slowly cloud my vision. "They despise the Resistance because they are Rulers, this doesn't have anything to do with my feelings for you."

He scoffs, shaking his head and a small, tortured smile taking place on his sweet face. "Yeah right, you were just lying. You never felt anything for me."He turns away and starts to storm away from me. His words take the wind out of me and I quickly scramble closer to him putting my hand on his shoulder, he stops, but he still doesn't turn around.

"No, it's not like that..." I plead, somehow he turned this into being my fault. No one else could ever do that to me, but he's not like anyone else. "You know I love you" My voice cracked on the last word. He turns back to me, startled. I'd never said that word to him before, and he seems surprised that i'd actually said it now, given the circumstances. He seems to believe me because he opens his arms to me, and I take a few quick steps to jump into them but a thought keeps me from doing so. My parents, and their stupid, stupid rules about being with anyone disobeying the government.

"But you should've told me" I continue, stepping away from his open arms. His face dropped and he opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off. "Im not going to be with someone who lies to me" I finish, the tears i've been trapping finally flowing free, but I quickly wipe them away and fix him with a hard look. He finally lets his face show he heartbroken he really is, but I still pray that he believes my lie. That we can't be together because he lied, but the real reason we can't be together is that they would hurt him.

My dad told me that if I were ever to be with someone he didn't approve of, he would hurt him, being the seriously over protective dad he is. If he knew about this... then he would surely kill him, since it was the governments protocol. Thunder rattles the ground as the wind whips the soaked pieces of my hair into my face. I stroke them away quickly, continuing to try and look emotionless.

"Maren please-" his voice breaks and he takes a swallow, "i can't lose you" I sigh and look at the sweet face that I fell in love with so easily, the only one that got past my tough exterior. My heart aches with agony of the thought, but I know what I need to do. I take a shaky deep breath and slowly begin to walk away.

"You already did, John"

 **Hmm familiar name? Whatever you are probably thinking, your right ;) I will admit I had actually A LOT of fun writing this chapter**

 **Review, Review, REVIEW! I absolutely love your reviews more than anything and the more reviews, the quicker I update!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello again my wonderful readers! I kinda feel like there is only a few people reading this story and that no one is really enjoying it so please tell me if u are and if u like it because it would mean so much to me...Oh, I almost forgot!**

 **Guest: Aww I'm so glad you like this story so much! And don't worry I understood what you were trying to say just fine and ahhh comment ur name next time cause I want you to know how much I love you!**

 **And i almost forgot the disclaimer again hahah: I do NOT own lorien legacies or the characters, just the plot!**

Joseph

"Aim higher! Hit it faster! Come on what was that Joseph? Pick up the pace!" Cole continues to bark commands at me as I hit the swinging punching bag with all my might. But just as last time, it only does a small swing and doesn't hit the ceiling. I slowly pant and lean down with my hands on my knees to try and regain my breath. I've been in the training room for about three hours trying to get my mind off of... well, a lot of things. But I haven't been able focus ,y stupid head, I was up all night texting. I turn my head to try and see John and Stanley to see them standing right in front of me with their arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

"Bro, that's your fifth swing and it still isn't getting to head level"

"Yeah come on! You used to be able to hit it every time!"

"Do you need some food or something cause you seem out of it..." I roll my eyes at their continuing comments about my health and punching abilities, and lift my hands off my knees to look at them.

"Yeah I'm fine... Just t-tired" I mumble, raising my shirt to wipe the sweat away from my face. I yawn to prove my statement and Stanley rolls his eyes while John stays blank faced. I look at John questioningly and he just shrugs and walks away.

"Uh..." I say trailing off while I look to Stanley who just continues to watch John look away with a confused look on his face. "What's his deal?" Stan finally looks away from him and shrugs his shoulders innocently.

"No clue, man" he says ruffling my hair, knowing it pisses me off. I glare at him and am about to comeback with some snarky comment when Cole's voice cuts through the busy room.

"Okay everyone, gather around" he yells, gesturing us to walk closer to him. The about 30 people in here slowly walk over, cutting off their personal conversations. Cole begins speaking about progress reports or something like that. My eyes scan the room for John but he seems to have disappeared, I only see about twenty five guys and five girls, which is a pretty big amount of girls, considering that about two weeks ago we had none. I give up on trying to spot John and my eyes travel to the huge window of the training room. Across the street I catch a couple of girls walking together and laughing and my breath hitches when I see a flash of brown hair. My mind involuntarily travels to Marina and it causes a smile to slowly spread across my face. The girl however, turns and I can see that it wasn't her, and I can't control the disappointment that rushes through me.

"-and are there any other volunteers?" Cole finishes, looking around the room at the hands now waving in the air. I look to Stanley to see his in the air too and he gives me a confused look.

"Are you crazy, bro?" He says incredulously, bumping my shoulder with his, "Raise your hand!"

I don't have the time to tell him that I wasn't listening before he yanks my hand into the air. I give him a pointed look and am about to lower it when Cole sees my hand up and smiles.

"And Joseph. Well, that's the ten people we needed. You are all free to go back to training" he waves us off before briskly walking out of the room. Stanley whoops in excitement and pats my back excitedly.

"Can you believe it!" he says, almost bouncing with excitement. I start to chuckle at his anxiousness when he turns back into his normal self and slaps me. I slap him back and before you know it we are wrestling on the ground. We struggle for a minute before I do a complicated trick to flip him over so i'm on top of him.

"Now might be a good time to ask, what did we just volunteer for?" I say panting through my words. He pushes me off him roughly and laughs soundlessly.

"You might know if you weren't so busy checking those girls out from across the street" He winks at me and I roll my eyes. I don't bother to top him what or rather, who I was thinking about, because it would just end in a countless amount of teasing. "but, they're sending a group of members to that high school across the street" he continues, starting to walk back over to the punching bag station. My eyes widen involuntarily and I accidentally give a small gasp. Stanley just smirks and gestures to the punching bags, I shake my head quickly and start backing away from me with my hands in front of me.

"No way, i'm done with those things for today"

As i walk away, all I can hear is him laughing at me.

I'm walking to the vending machine to grab a bottle of water when I hear a crash behind me. I decide to ignore it and start pressing the buttons on the vending machine. When I lean down to grab my water and hear another thump against the machine, I look up to see ahhh standing against it with his arms crossed.

"Oh uh, hey John" I look around nervously, but i'm not sure why because he hasn't even said anything yet. "are you okay?" he just shakes his head and gestures to me.

"Doesn't matter" he says, still looking very serious. "i know why you were up so late last night" My eyes furrow in confusion, even though I can feel the blush rising on my cheeks. "you were u texting a girl" he said, his grin finally slipping through. I open and close my mouth a few times, trying to figure out how to respond. I think through a very well-written speech in my head but all that comes out is...

"Uhm ah- how- uh do you- uh... that it was a girl?" I curse my myself for getting flustered thinking about Marina again and John continues to smirk at me teasingly.

"Because you had that stupid grin on your face and you were.." he says, pausing for a dramatic effect, and he leans in closer to me and whispers in my ear, "giggling" he starts howling with laughter. I smack the back of his head and try to play it off cool, but i'm guessing by the huge grin on his face, i'm guessing that i'm failing miserably.

"Ok, so what if I was?" I say crossing my arms, defensively. John continues to laugh at me when I try to come of as threatening.

"It's funny watching you be _in love"_ he teases, i roll my eyes he start shuffling his shoulders, doing a little dance in place.

"I'm not in love" I mumble quietly but he just continues to dance in place and starts to sing.

"Jospeh has a crush...Joseph has a crush... Joseph had a crush!" he yells, cupping his hands over his mouth to makes the words louder.

"Would you quit it?!" I whisper-yell at him when I see people around us giving us curious looks. He shrugs innocently and opens his mouth to repeat himself again when I punch him right in the jaw, but not hard enough for it to cause any real pain.

"Ok, fine. But be careful" he says, but his grin slowly starts fading into another serious look. "just.." he hesitates, looking at me with sad eyes. "don't make the same mistakes i did, ok buddy?" He grabs my shoulder and grips it hard until I respond.

"Ok" I say hesitantly, starting to chuckle to try and lighten is mood. "I'm the older one bro, quit acting like you are" I say, I give him one more grin and then is turn to walk back to my room.

The walk is slow and peaceful as I let myself get lost in my thoughts. I unlock my door and walk over to lay down on my bed. I sigh, trying to shake my head of all the events of today, well... except one. I'm about to shut my eyes and doze off when my phone buzzes lightly next to me. I pick it up and a smile slowly lights my face when I see the name on the screen.

 _From Marina:_

 _So we're still on?_

I slowly grin and type in a few words and hit the send button. I throw my phone back on the bed and sigh while running a hand through my hair. I look out my window to see the girl of the ninth herself, walking with one of her friends with black hair. She laughs at something she said and looks down to her pocket and pulls out her phone. Her hair is blowing in the wind and she irritatingly brushes it out of her face, which makes me smile. She pulls out her phone and I smile lights her face instantly when she reads my message. I see her smirk as she replies to my text again, then walks out of my line of vision while continuing to laugh with her friend.

 _From Marina:_

 _Can't wait ;)_

Oh trust me, I can't wait either.

 **AHHH I CANT WAIT EITHER! So they were up texting all night, how romantic! And now they are scheduling meet-ups! The friendship is risingggg**

 **Don't forget to leave a review ;)**


	8. Chapter 8

**HEY MY BEAUTIFULS! I'm sure you've noticed that i've updated a lot lately and that's because i'm going on vacation for a while and i'm not sure how much time i'll have during that time. But I will update on July 3 at the latest! But I hope this longer chapter makes up for it!**

 **Me: Can someone say the disclaimer?**

 **Stanley: Hell no**

 **Me: Language!**

 **Stanley: *smirks* sorry**

 **John: Hey readers!**

 **Jospeh: Focus John!**

 **Maren: JOHN?!**

 **Me: Here we go, Marina please just say the disclaimer**

 **Marina: . . doesn't own us or the Lorien legacies series**

 **Me: Thank you! Onto the story!**

Marina

Maren and I are walking home when I get Joseph's texts. He and I made up last night, and we needed up talking for hours. My face automatically heats up after remembering what he said. I look up dreamily at the sky, but quickly look down again when the sun flashes brightly in my eyes. Maren continues to talk about some girl who tripped her in gym and how pissed she is at her. I try to listen closely but just zone out once so I get another text from Joseph, saying how he wouldn't miss tonight for the world. I roll my eyes at his cheesiness and push my hair out of my hair quickly before texting him back and looking up from my phone with a smile, to be greeted with Maren's smirking face.

"So, am I ever going to get to know this guys name or what?" Maren's teasing voice snaps me out of my daydream immediately.

"Huh?" I repeatedly try to shake his stupid grin out of my head while Maren rolls her eyes at me and starts twirling her hair, putting a dreamy look on her face.

"So are we on for tonight? Can't wait!" She giggles, winking at the end of her sentence. My face heats up and I smack her on the shoulder.

"You've been reading my texts?!" I yell angrily, but she continuously twirls her finger around her wavy hair.

"Like, maybe. Omg you are soooo funny like stop it!" She squeals and my eyes widen in frustration. My cheeks flare bright red before putting my face in my hands in embarrassment. I hear Maren laughing at me loudly, but I continue to try and ignore her, but after she starts mocking me again, I jerk my head up quickly and try to hit her, but she slides away.

"I do _not_ say 'like' that much!" I protest, but she shrugs and happily looks ahead of her, way too happy for her normal mood.

"Maybe I was exaggerating a little, but you do sound pretty..."

"Watch it." She hesitates, deciding against what she was going to say. We walk in silence for a few seconds before she coughs.

"Stupid" She coughs through her words to hide it but I turn to her and I try to glare, but a happy smile breaks its way through onto my face.

"That's it!" I exclaim, and she starts to run away quickly. I laugh outright before starting to chase her the rest of the way home. Cliche as it sounds, it feels really great to see her laugh again, it's been way too long.

After we get home, we end up, against Maren's protests, studying. I threw my hair up in a quick messy bun and lightly pulled around a few strands, framing my face. There are textbooks and papers sprawled out all around Maren's bed and there are so many pencils I can't even adjust my seat without being worried that i'm going to stab myself. To my right, I hear Maren sigh angrily at the math problem she's on and start to mumble something abort how stupid she thinks it is. I chuckle to myself and look back down to my english paper. The french revolution was before the civil war, right? I'm pretty sure, well, not really. Maren makes another frustrated noise and taps my shoulder, and I look up to see her with big, begging eyes.

"Can we please stop?" she whines, laying her head down in my lap. I laugh at her complaints and gently lift her head off of my lap.

"Fine, but only because I don't know a thing about the french revolution" I joke, causing her and I both to laugh and she shuts her math textbook happily.

"Thank god!" She leans back against the head board of the bed and runs her hands through her tangled hair.

"You know," she starts, smirking. "you never told me this _amazing_ guys name" she turns her body so she can sit right across from me. Rolling my eyes, I start to pick up all my papers spread across the bed and start putting them in my backpack.

Your right, I didn't" I spare a glance up at her to see her giving me annoyed look.

"Don't be a smart ass" she mumbles angrily, causing me to burst out laughing.

"Maren!"

"I can keep on going if you want me to" She opens her mouth and starts forming a word that seems to rhyme with tuck, until I buckle under pressure and yell the first thing that pops into my head.

"Jake!" I close my eyes and sigh, disappointed in myself. I can't believe I just lied about his name, there was absolute no point in doing that, but blame my stupid mouth for freaking out.

"Jake?" She says, giving me a questioning look, obviously catching on my train of thought.

"Yeah, his names Jake" I scramble onto words, trying to search for a believable backstory. "I met him a few weeks ago, and he asked me out last night" I'm smiling on the outside, backing my statement up with a small blush on my cheeks. But on the inside, i'm screaming at myself. Literally everything I just said was completely wrong. Well, except the asked out part, not like it's a date or anything, we're just hanging out as friends.

"Well then, we have to get you ready for your date!" She exclaims, standing up and pulling me with her. Despite my protests, she drags me to the bathroom and places me in front of the mirror.

"What kind of date is it?" She murmurs, more to herself than me.

"Uh- Casual?" She nods and starts opening random drawers, trying to find some subtle makeup. She has to open almost ten drawers before finding the mascara she was looking for, she probably couldn't find it easily considering that neither her or I wear makeup on a normal basis.

"Since when have you been into makeup?" I ask suspiciously. She snorts and leans closer to me, brushing my eyelashes up with the mascara brush.

"I'm not" She laughs at the question and has to steady her arms so she doesn't mess up doing my makeup. "I just have experience from my dates with... John" She turns away from me and tries to play off her hesitation but I grab her arm and turn her face back to mine and she looks at me with tears in her eyes.

"Maren" I whisper, pulling her into a tight hug, and she returns it quickly. Surprising us both she lets out small sob as she wraps her arms around me. I never knew how much she really missed John. I guess since it happened almost a year ago that I kinda dismissed it, but that was probably stupid, considering she hasn't even though about a guy ever since. She lets go of me with a quick sigh and brushes a few stray tears away from her eyes.

"You know Maren, I could cancel if you want, I could totally-" I start rambling but she cuts me off immediately.

"No" She says shaking her head slightly, but smiling very lightly. "This is your first date, i'm not going to let you miss it" I give her a grateful smile and she grabs another fluffy brush to apply some blush, after I disagreed to putting on foundation. She spends a small amount of time picking out a cute white blouse for me to wear, along with some blue ripped jean shorts. She looks me over a few times approvingly but sprints to the bathroom quickly. I raise an eyebrow suspiciously and start to laugh when she runs back in with a tube of light pink lip gloss.

"Maren.." I start with a warning tone in my voice. She just smirks and uncaps it smoothly, leaning over to run it lightly over my lips.

"Now your perfect" She praises, grabbing a pair of nice sneakers for me to wear. "So, when is he coming to pick you up?" She wanders around the room, starting to clean up the mess she made getting me ready. I momentarily hesitate but when she looks up at me expectantly, I quickly explain myself.

"No uh, we're meeting somewhere" She smiles slightly, going back to cleaning her bathroom counter.

"May I know where?" She teases, not looking up and meeting my eyes. I let out noise of panic but I don't think she notices. I glance out the window quickly, trying to think of a random restaurant but then refrain myself, because that could easily backfire if she stops by and i'm not there. So instead of that, I out on a mysterious smile and try to get my eyes to light up.

"Nope. It's a secret" I reply lightly, holding my finger to my mouth as if i'm hushing her. She looks up once and grins before looking down at her lit up phone. She reads a message and then her eyes widen. I'm about to ask her what's wrong when she runs over to me and is pushing me out her balcony door, since were on ground level.

"Great! Then have fun!" She pushes once last final time and sends me one more supportive smile before slamming the doors right in my face. I open my mouth in surprise but then pull out my phone and glance down at its screen, shaking the thought off.

It's 4:38, which is perfect since I need to meet Joseph at five. I sigh and start walking down the road that led me to the forest my walk a few nights ago. Our 'secret place' is a park that's a few miles away from our house. Which, wasn't very ideal since that requires lots of walking but, I couldn't really risk it. Why do I have to keep thinking that? I try to shake off that thought immediately and try to regain the right mindset. Just as i'm about to cross the street and am looking across it, a pair of warm hands cover my eyes. I struggle against them, thinking of the other night in the forest, when I hear a warm whisper behind my hear.

"Hey, it's okay. Just me" A small, shy smile takes form on my face when I hear Joseph's voice and turn to take him in in full view. He's dressed in a dark blue t shirt with black jeans and a pair of really worn out sneakers. I tear my eyes from studying him to meet his gaze, but his eyes were also scanning me and he looked at me shyly. Before I lose the adrenaline of seeing him again, I smirk and tilt my head curiously.

"You like what you see?" He responds to my teasing by shaking off his shy look and giving me a cheerful smile.

"How about you?" His smile turns into more of a smirk and a blush _of course_ , rises on my face, but I try to play it off anyways.

"Damn it! You caught me" I sigh sarcastically, causing him to break out into a cheerful laugh. He bumps my shoulder casually with his as we start walking down the street.

"Well, you caught me first." He reasons, causing me to laugh loudly, causing us to gather the attention of multiple people, and I panic slightly when I remember Josephs tattoo. I shoot innocent smiles to the people surrounding us and shoot a quick look at Jospehs confused eyes and pull him into a hug, making sure that my head goes to the same side of his tattoo. As I wrap my arms around him loosely, Joseph makes a noise of surprise before returning the it.

"Uh- not like i'm against hugs or anything but, what's this for?" He asks, chuckling as he feels me smile against his neck.

"Hold on" I say, pulling back slightly to look at his neck when I realize that his tattoo isn't anywhere to be seen. "what?" I gasp in confusion, looking around on both sides of his head frantically. My eyes must show my confusion, because Joseph grabs my hands that were surrounding his neck and holds them in is.

"I covered it up, one of my friends put some makeup on it" He looks into my eyes earnestly and his words make a smile come onto my face in full force. He smiles too and reaches out to brush my cheek, and that's when I realize how close our faces are together. I blush and quickly retreat out of his arms, and I see a flash of emotion in his eyes that I can't quite place.

"That was, uh, very thoughtful of you" Way to go, Marina. You really couldn't have been any more awkwardly. Instead of calling me out on it, he just laughs and pats me on the back.

"No problem"

The day goes on and we spend the rest of the afternoon laughing like crazy. Joseph takes me to a diner and we get dinner and afterward he bought me a milkshake. I insisted on paying for myself but he said that it wouldn't be the right thing to do because he was trying to be a gentleman, which I laughed at. When the sun started to set, he insisted on walking me home, and assured me that no one would recognize him. He walked me to the door and I swear he had a look in his eyes that meant he wanted to kiss me, but it disappeared so quickly that i'm sure i must have imagined it.

I walk inside to find Maren fast asleep on her bed and with nothing but a tank top and shorts. Chuckling, I pull a blanket over her and she unconsciously snuggles it closer to her body. She smiles in her sleep and seeing her so calm puts a very peaceful smile on my face. I turn to the air mattress set up on the floor for me but shiver as a i step towards it. I turn with a start to see our balcony door wide open with the curtains flowing freely in the wind. I don't even think about it because i'm too busy smiling from my amazing day with Joseph, i just shut the doors and lay down on the mattress. Even if my thoughts are completely overwhelmed but the days events, I do wonder in a small piece of my brain why the doors were open, but I don't really think much about it.

In hindsight, I really should have.

 **First "date" of navrina and looks like some Drama is brewing.. told ya the good stuff is coming. See you all soon and leave me a review because they make my day a million times better.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Heyyy guys! Welcome back and you are very welcome for the early chapter, I ended up having. lots of extra time in the car so I got some chapters done! This chapter is dedicated to... LECTICIA for always giving me beautiful reviews!**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own LL or the characters**

 **Also, this story will get darker in the future and lead to some traumatic things. Like said in the prologue, this is a tragic story and therefore will end in things some of you might not like. But don't worry, this story is just starting and I do not plan on ending it anytime soon. This was just warning you guys that in the future, not everyone will escape death. I know that probably scares you guys but I WONT be killing Marina or Joseph because I could never bring myself to do it. But... not everyone else is safe.**

 **One final note, i probably won't write in Joseph's POV very frequently anymore because I find it really hard. I will write in John's, Maren's and of course, Marina's. You may also see a Stanley and more Joseph ones later but i'm not really sure right now! And side note; this chapter takes place two weeks after the last one.**

 **Sorry that was super long, onto the story!**

John

" _Maren please- I don't want to lose you" She looks at me with the familiar hatred I see every time I relive this memory._

" _You already did, John"_

I gasp shakily and I sit up quickly in my bed. I take in my panting breaths to see that i've been sweating under the many layers of sheets on my bed, though i'm guessing that's not the only reason. Rubbing my eyes wearily, I lower my feet to the ground quietly, taking caution since Jospeh and Stanley are sleeping a few feet away from me. Trying to distract myself, I grab an empty glass from my nightstand and make my way down the hallway silently to the kitchen. When I get there, I register that i'm still barefoot, after feeling the cold tile floor on my feet. I put my glass under the tap and let it sit there, leaning against the counter with my arms crossed. My mind unwillingly drifts to my dream, which also includes it drifting to Maren, which happens too often for my liking.

Maren. Well, there's not a lot to say about that, or there's too much to say. There is way too much to say. I could go on for hours talking about her and the breakup and everything, but I decide that might not be the best idea. so glance to the now overflowing glass of water and sigh deeply. Well, if there's a time to make peace with it, it's now.

Maren and I had met all the way back in middle school, we really had been friends forever. Then we grew really close during our sophomore year in high school and I guess that's when we both realized we had feelings for each other. I asked her out, she said yes, and we had been happily dating until the beginning of junior year. I became a Resistance member and I hadn't told her about it, knowing how she would react, or rather, how her parents would react. Then we broke up, which was one of the single hardest and most heartbreaking moments of my life, she had meant everything to me. And I was so sure that I meant that much to her, but apparently I didn't. So I dropped out of high school, and became a full-blown member of the Resistance.

I didn't really expect her to understand, I mean, how could she? She had the perfect life, she had her parents, friends, money, she had everything that people could ever wish for. But she didn't act like she had everything, which grabbed my attention in the first place. And for me, I didn't really have anything, which wasn't really a problem until I met Stan and Joseph. They showed me that the Resistance stood against all the rules and had fun, or at least Stan told me that. But that wasn't the real reason air did it, the reason was just like everyone else's, at wanted a family.

By enough about that, I shake my head and try to forget everything relating to or about Maren, including that damn beautiful smile of hers. My eyes drift across the room, studying it, even though i've seen it millions of times. When my eyes land on Joseph's sleeping figure, they stop and I grimace. I know that the girl he's been texting all day and night for weeks is Marina, Maren's best friend. I'm sure he doesn't know that I know, and either way it wouldn't matter cause neither he or Stan know who Maren even is. I had figured that I should just let their little friendship be, but then the mission of sending ten of us to be undercover high school students came up. I obviously didn't want a part of it since Maren would be there, but the other two idiots did. Which is why I need to tell Joseph to cut things off with Marina soon, because there's no way i'm letting him be with anyone like her.

I don't have anything personal against Marina, but she's a Neutral, which is already enough where he should stay away. But other than that, she lives with two of the most important rulers in the country. That probably means she's completely obsessed with the idea of peace and not wanting to have anything to do with one of us, I doubt Joseph has even told her that's he's a resistance member. Of course he didn't. I mean, if he did, she would have totally ditched him by now.

Looking to my glass sitting under the tap water and seeing that it's overflowing snaps me out of my thoughts and shocks me enough that I trip over myself trying to pick it up. I land on the tile floor with a loud thump, crashing down and bringing the full glass with me. It also clashes to the floor, the glass shattering into pieces and water spilling out everywhere. Cursing under my breath, I start trying to clean up the broken glass all over the floor without cutting myself. But unfortunately, my commotion of noises wakes Stanley and I see him sitting up groggily. He walks over to me and looks like he's about to yell but I hold a finger up to my lips, pointing to Joseph sleeping without a single motion. He closes his mouth reluctantly, and grabs my arm to drag me out in the hallway.

"Can you not fuc-" he shouts before I slap him quickly and lightly across the face.

"We're in the hallway, not another planet you idiot. He can still hear you if you scream like a psycho killer" He glares at me and slaps me back. I smirk jokingly and he continues with a whisper-shout voice.

"Did you have to trip over your lazy ass and wake up the whole town?" I smirk and motion back to our rooms door and whisper shout back.

"Joseph didn't wake up" I retort and Stanley rolls his eyes.

"He wouldn't wake up if we brought an elephant in there" He says, not speaking in a more normal voice. We both chuckle and agree when I realize what I was thinking about before Stan woke up. I wonder if I should tell him about the little friendship thing going on with Joseph and Marina, not that he even knows she exists of course.

"Hey Stan..." I hesitate, giving myself one last chance to back out. "I need your help" He instantly turns serious and looks at me intensely, probably noticing the anxiousness in my voice. Little did I know that this next conversation was the one that set everything up. It was this cover station that started the chain of events that effected our lives forever. Maybe things wouldn't have turned out the way they did if this hadn't happened. But of course, I didn't know that at the time, so i continued anyway and told him everything.

"Joseph is having an affair with a neutral" I say before i can take it back. Stanleys eyes widen immediately and he unwillingly raises his voice.

"Joe lost his-" I cut him off with a shout and he looks at me with confusion. And before I can stop myself, I burst out laughing, probably waking the people across the hall.

"No, no, that's not what I meant" I say through my laughter, and his eyes get even more confused and he opens his mouth but I decide to continue. "They're not even dating, at least I don't think so. He's just been hanging out with her a lot" His face lights up with realization but then frowns quickly.

"Is..." he hesitates. looking conflicted about deciding what to say, "Is that a problem?" My eyebrows shoot up in surprise but he continue to look at me like he's completely lost.

"What do you mean 'is that a problem?', Of course it's a problem!" I whisper shout to him, and he rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Uh, why?" I frown in uncertainty, trying to figure out how to explain without bringing Maren into this. An idea hits my mind but I brush it away quickly. I could explain how Neutrals are bad for the society and things like that, but that seems to be a pretty extreme excuse.

"Because she's a neutral! She doesn't understand what we believe for, and" Hesitating, I think over my next words carefully, and dawning on the first time that it could actually be true, "and she could convince him to switch back over" I say, whispering the last part almost to myself. This catches Stan's attention immediately and he grabs me forcefully by the shoulders.

"We can't let that happen" And for the first time in this conversation, he looks angry and I look into his eyes thoughtfully, trying to calm him down ever so slightly.

"I know we can't, which is why we need to keep him away from her" I slowly ease his hands off my shoulders and he returns them to his sides.

"How are we supposed to do that? She probably goes to that school across the street. You know, the one him and I are starting at soon?" He replies sarcastically. I roll my eyes and cross my arms frustratedly.

"I'm not, though. I can sneak in and try and figure out her schedule to make sure he doesn't have any classes with her" I begin, thinking of my words as I go. "but getting his phone will be a harder problem" I mumble to myself, so quietly that confusion clouds over Stan's eyes and he looks at me with a questioning look.

"What?"

"We need to get his phone. He's been texting her for a couple of weeks" I shrug simply. He nods in understanding and then raises an eyebrow at me.

"How do you know all this?" I shrug nonchalantly, starting to walk back over to my bed.

"He's been up all night for weeks, i'm surprised you didn't notice" We both sit down on our beds and I start to get myself comfortable under my sheets.

"Well I know that, but how did you know they were hanging out and everything?" He doesn't seem too bothered by all my knowledge about the subject, just curious.

"Oh, I read his texts over his shoulder once, that's all" I try to keep my nervous tone our of my voice, scared that he will figure out my lie right away, but instead he just laughs and lays down on his bed, leaning over to unplug the lamp.

"Stalker" He chuckles to himself and heifer long, his breathing is slow and regulated and I can tell he's fallen asleep. I roll my eyes, leave it to him to fall asleep in ten seconds.

Rolling my eyes, I lay down against my pillow roughly and try to relax my eyes, desperate to find sleep before training tomorrow. Right when I feel like i'm about to drift off, my phone buzzes beside me. I groan and take a few minutes to reach out and grab it, after multiple text messages. When the screen lights up, and momentarily blinds me, I sit up in a rush and sprint out the door immediately.

When I reach my destination and reach to open the door, I realize that i'm still shirtless and and only have a pair of boxers on. I blush unintentionally, thinking about her seeing me in my underwear. But I proceed anyway and turn the doorknob quietly.

"Come in, John" I do as the voice says and completely open the door. I stand in shock to see many black hooded figures standing inside. I self consciously cover my arms over my chest while a laugh escapes the women in front of me.

"I love the clothes" She chuckles loudly before turning serious once more. She raises her eyebrows at me curiously and looks at me expectantly.

"So? What do you think about the idea?" My eyebrows rise and I give her an incredulous look.

"No! I'm not doing that and you know it" She sighs, giving me an unfortunate look.

"I didn't want to have to threaten you, but" She starts, slamming her hand on the table right in front of me, causing me to jump a small bit. "I know about this girl you used to know, Maren is it? It would be a shame is something happened to her" My eyes focus on her intensely, narrowing dangerously.

"If you touch her.." I threaten, before getting interrupted by her rubbing my cheek gently.

"Don't try and threaten me, John. You know that it's no use." I push her hand away from my face angrily, already starting to feel resigned.

"So, do we have a deal?" Her grin widens dangerously and she looks at me with her scary green eyes. I swallow a few times, angry at myself that I still have to care about Maren's well being so much. She catches sight of this, only causing her grin to widen ever so slightly.

"Of course we do"

 **Ooh John, dealing with the devil never works out in your favor. Your welcome for the early chapter everyone and leave a lovely review for me please!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Heyy, I don't feel like doing a lot of talking hehe but was there something wrong with my last chapter? I don't know, i just didn't get as many views as normal but that's ok I guess, i'm still gonna keep going. And i'm leaving NYC on sunday and i'm gonna miss it, but kinda miss my bed so yeah.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Lorien legacies**

Maren

Wet. That's exactly how I feel when I wake up, or kind of wake up. It's really hazy right now and my eyes are drooping so much they seem to be stuck to my eyelids. I pry them open forcefully before I feel a splash of coldness. Splash? Opening my eyes in surprise, I see Marina standing over me, empty cup in her hand, and an evil smirk on her face. While my eyes widen in alarm, I look down to see my body and bed soaked with water.

"What the hell, Marina!" I yell at the top of my lungs, running to the bathroom to take off my clothes and change. I keep the door open as I strip down until i'm in nothing but my underwear and bra. I slide on my light purple, silk robe and glance into the mirror. I see Marina standing in the doorway with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. Before she can stop herself, she bursts out laughing and I glare at her in response. I'm about to snap at her again when a small noise is made at the other side of the room. She jumps so high that she falls on the floor in surprise.

I can't help but laugh hard when she sits on the floor with a look of fear on my face. Walking over to the place of the noise, I put a fake scared look on my face and walk slowly. When I reach Marina's air mattress, another noise is made and actually causes me to tense a small bit, not that i'd let Marina know that. I cautiously flip over a cushion to see Marina's silver phone lying under it. I turn around with a glare and she smiles sheepishly when I lean over to pick it up. Her cheeks only redden when she realizes I have it and she makes a leap for it, sprinting across the room to jump on me. We land on my bed with a thump and I stick my arm out so the phone isn't in her reach.

"No! Don't read it, Maren!" She begs, starting to crawl across me to grab it. Sensing this, I push my hand against her stomach and push with all my might to make her fall off the bed. And she does. She goes rolling onto the floor, groaning in pain.

"Ow, that really hurt" She moans, I put on a teasing look and bring the phone in front of my face.

"All is fair in..." I drift off when I read that the texts are from the 'Jake' i've been hearing so much about. "love and war. Oh my god! Look at these texts" She makes a move towards me but I hold my hand up, unlocking her phone to scroll through the texts.

" _How can I go to sleep when I have you to talk to?_ Oh my god, Mar! You picked such a sweet one" I tease, giggling beside myself. She gives up on moving and slumps on the ground in embarrassment. Her cheeks heat up intensely and she plays with a strand of her hair loosely.

"We aren't dating..." She says, and i'd be lying if I said I didn't detect a hint of sadness in her voice. But my eyes soften at the sight of it and I decide not to bring it up.

"Well, you should be. He's flirting with you hardcore" I murmur, continuing to scroll through their millions of texts, "and by the looks of it, so are you." I continue to tease when she snatches the phone away from me swiftly. She reads the text she didn't get to see and I see a small, peaceful smile take place on her face. She quickly types something and sends it before turning her phone off and tossing it to the side of her mattress.

"Harmless flirting means nothing, right?" She just shrugs, turning back to her mattress to start straightening out her sheets. I don't show any emotion on the outside, but on the inside i'm really shocked. She's really changed a lot these past couple of weeks, turning more, daring, i guess. A few weeks ago, she wouldn't have even thought that line, let alone say it. Ever since she's been talking to Jake, she's seemed a lot more outgoing and a little more out there, and I can't decide if that's a good or bad thing,

"Will I ever get to meet him?" I muse, deciding to ignore her previous question. Her eyes flash with a look of alarm quickly, but she quickly wipes it away from her face and puts on a shy smile, a fake one, if I may add.

"I don't know..." Her shyness seems so realistic that it startles me a small bit, because Marina's never been a good liar at all, and it sort of worries me that she's seemed to have become so much better at it.

"Well I better get to soon- shit!" I curse when I glance to the alarm clock and see that it's 6:47 in the morning. And when I look to Marina, she's looking at me with a smirk.

"Did I forget to mention that you overslept?" And with that, i'm running into the bathroom and throwing off my robe and grabbing random clothes to put on. And from behind the door, I can hear Marina laughing.

"Payback for looking through my phone!" She yells, and I can hear the faint noise of her putting shoes on.

"I'm going to get you back for that!" I yell, as I pull my hair up into a messy ponytail. I give myself one more look over before sighing and storming out of the bathroom. I pass Marina's standing figure in the doorway and grab my bag. She looks at me with an innocent look and I glare at her as we open the door. Walking to my car and opening the passenger seat door, I look to see her giving me a confused look, to which I only shrug while closing the car door.

"You're driving"

Marina

We pull into the school parking lot surprisingly early and I look at the clock and see that we managed to get here with still 15 minutes before class. I park the car and lay back in my seat, soaking in the sun that's warming my back.

"Ugh, my clothes are still getting wet. I hope you know how much I hate you right now" Maren grumbles in her seat. She has black sunglasses pulled on to keep the sun out of her face and I realize I probably should've grabbed some too, considering my eyes are already starting to ache from squinting.

"I know, I love you too!" I squeal, causing her to wince and I give her a smirk of success. The corners of her mouth turn down and she narrows her eyes at me.

"You should stop glaring so much," I state, looking away from Maren and back into the parking lot. "Your face might freeze like that" She starts to glare again before catching herself and a look of realization dawns in her face. I laugh openly, and she does too after a little while, but my laughing starts to slow when I see a group of ten people in the parking lot. They look all around Maren and I's age, but i've never seen them here before. I'm about to point it out to Maren when I see Joseph submerge from the group. He's laughing with a guy who has longish black hair and he's wearing a grey shirt, the one he was wearing when we first met. I let out a small gasp and before I know it, i'm scrambling out of the car. Maren makes a noise of surprise and calls out after me.

"Marina, where are you-"

"Just grabbing some water!" I yell back, turning to her and flashing a small reassuring smile, before turning back to the group of people and storming up quickly. Even as I get closer, he doesn't seem to notice me, even if a few other men in the group do. When I look over them, I see that there we about seven guys and three girls, which seems like a pretty uneven arrangement, but I decide to think nothing of it. Jospeh still hasn't seen me but I continue to push through the people until i'm stopped by a tall and bulky guy with brown hair.

"Why, hey there, pretty girl. What's your name?" He murmurs huskily, coming against me slowly and what I suppose is to be seductively. Despite myself, I blush as he continues to smile at me, and this seems to catch Joseph's attention.

"Uh.. now's really not the time.." I stutter, pushing on the guys chest so he can get out of my way. Unfortunately, he takes this as a turn-on, and just do continues to come closer to me, causing me to walk backwards slightly.

"I don't see why not, we have plenty of-" He's cut off when a hand yanks back his shoulder quickly, but not roughly.

"Come on, Jack, leave her alone" Jospeh stands there and speaks with a rather calm tone, but still has an uneasy look in his eyes. Jack turns to me again and starts to talk to me again in a low voice, but my eyes are still focused on Joseph. Before Jack can continue, I walk in front of Joseph and press my hand against his chest gently, but also kind of urgently.

"We need to talk, now" I say seriously, and I hear Jack make a sarcastic sigh behind me.

"Really, Joe? Taking all the ladies before I even get a chance!" he complains, but I ignore him and grab Joseph's wrist to tug him away from the group of people, but I see the long haired guy he was talking to earlier give me a glare and turns to Joseph.

"Uhm, bro we need to get to class soon" he says, eyeing me up even more. I back away from Joseph shyly but he just gives him a sarcastic smirk.

"Quit eyeing her up, Stan" he half warns, but seeming more amused than anything. My eyes widen slightly in surprise, this is the guy that he mentioned when we first met, or second meet, if you count the weird dream thing I had. Joseph pulls me away from the group after shooting one more look a Stan before we turn a corner.

When we get out of earshot, I turn to him with a glare, expecting him to look more serious, but he just gives me an amused smile.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" I whisper- yell to make sure no one over hears us. His smile falters slightly before putting on a sarcastic grin.

"Wow. I would've thought you'd be more excited to see me" he muses, but I can still tell he's slightly angry at my forwardness.

"This isn't the time for jokes! Who are all those people you're with? Why are you here?" I hesitate, and see his mouth open in protest but I decide to continue with frustration, "Why aren't you answering my questions!"

"Because you aren't letting me!" he retorts, giving me the evil eye. "And I can't tell you" I raise my eyebrows in surprise and confusion, and he continues quietly. "It's not bad it's just... a Resistance thing" I keep on a straight face, by inside i'm a little hurt that he doesn't trust me enough to tell me what's going on.

"Does anyone else know that you're here?" I settle on asking next, referring to the group of Resistance members outside, to which he shakes his head urgently and takes a step closer to me.

"No, they don't. And it has to stay that way. You can't tell _anyone_ that we're here, okay?" He looks so earnest and for the first time since i've known him, truly afraid. So i just nod slowly and am about to open my mouth when a voice interrupts us.

"Can't tell anyone what?" My heart stops as i recognize the voice and Maren emerges from the shadow. My eyes widen in horror and everything is silent as Joseph and Maren stare at each other in confusion and me at them in fear.

"Who are you?" They ask at the same time, Maren pointing to him in suspicion. Joseph begins to also look nervous and runs a hand through his hair nervously.

"Maren! I told you to wait in the car, I told you I would be right back" I reason, playing with my hands nervously, and also step away from Jospeh shyly. Maren raises an eyebrow at him again and he gives her a small smile.

"You also said you were going to get water" She states, looking Joseph up and down. "He doesn't look like water" Joseph looks like he's trying to hold back a laugh, and I send him a quick glare before turning back to Maren and giving her a pleading look.

"I know, but I just-" I ramble until Maren has a dawning look in her eyes and I close my eyes and sigh, sure of this not being a good idea.

"Is this Jake?" Shit. Joseph's smile quickly disappears and I see an easy look of anger in his eyes when he turns to me abruptly.

"Who the hell is Jake?" He says, not quite yelling but not exactly quietly either. I open my mouth and ramble to start and explain.

"No! You guys don't understand-"

"So he's not Jake... You're cheating on Jake!" Maren interrupts, looking at me incredulously. I quickly shake my head but Joseph's anger only seems to grow.

"You have a boyfriend?" He yells, finally not caring about who hears him, Maren's mouth makes a sound in surprise and I look at him gently.

"No I don't! It's just that-"

"Wait! Are you two having sex?" Maren gasps, clasping a hand over her mouth. Joseph and I look at each other quickly before turning back to Maren, me with red blossoming on my cheeks.

"No!" We shout at the same time, and I start to get annoyed with them not letting me finish my sentences.

"I can't believe that you didn't tell me-" I cut Maren off with a frustrated scream.

"He _is_ Jake!" I shout, motioning to Joseph with one hand. But this only results in confused looks from both of them. After many moments of silence, Joseph looks to me questioningly.

"But we aren't dating" He says, and I swear I see a small blush on his cheeks, but that seems a little too wild for my imagination. I sigh and run a frustrated hand through my hair.

"I know that. I never said we were dating" I say harshly, giving Maren a pointed look. She still only smirks at me, causing my cheeks to redden slightly more.

"Well, sorry for mistaking it. You two seemed pretty couple-ish from your text messages" She smirks at us both and Joseph gives me a raised eyebrow and I give him a shrug before glaring at Maren again. He looks confused, but Joseph sticks a hand out to Maren cheerfully.

"I'm Joseph, it's nice to meet you" Maren hesitates slightly, before taking his hand in hers.

"Maren Elizabeth, but you only get to call me, Maren" she warns, "I'm Marina's best friend, so if any funny business goes on here, i'm going to come for you" She points a finger at him and smirks slightly. Joseph seems to take it in the best way possible and just chuckles lightly.

"You won't have to worry about that" He promises, giving me a thoughtful look. His gaze makes my blushing cheeks betray me again and they heat up, and i can hear Maren chuckle without even looking at her.

"So how did you two meet?" Joseph looks like he's about to answer when I kick the back of his leg quickly and he lets out a surprised noise.

"We met on my walk, you know that one after our fight-" I stop when I remember what our fight was about and realize that Maren might realize that this is the guy I saw in my dream. Fortunately, she doesn't catch on and just nods her head. We start to walk to class together, only to realize that Joseph has none of the same classes as me or Maren, which seems pretty weird, but I decide to think nothing of it. When Maren and I continue to walk to homeroom alone, she says to me:

"He's pretty cute, you should definitely hold onto him" I just sigh to that as we enter the warm room. Something tells me that she's not going to mean that for too much longer.

 **Hope i didn't disappoint! I personally loved writing the jake scene hehehe. Please leave a review to know what you liked!**


	11. AN

**Sorry if you thought this was a new chapter, it's not. I needed to just say a few quick things and I didn't feel like taking up a bunch of space and the beginning of a chapter so i'm just gonna say a few things!**

 **First, i'm aware my updates are very irregular, but to me, the important thing to me is getting the chapters out there, not necessarily in an order of time. So, i'm gonna post when i finish a chapter, and i'm gonna write a chapter when i feel inspired, okay? Because I think stories are more fun to read when you have everything there and don't have to wait for a new chapter.**

 **Second, I am GREATLY aware that this story is going slow. But i'm doing that for a specific reason, i think making a bigger build up to big reveals make them more emotional and mind blowing. I want to make a story that can make people cry because they get so happy or so sad. And that isn't possible if i don't give you a background on anything.**

 **For example, Navrina won't happen right away, it's going to build up, so when it finally happens, people will be so excited and they'll want to literally scream. So, don't expect Navrina to happen in a couple chapters cause it most definitely won't. They are going to be friends, then some issues, then become a couple.**

 **Next, I DO have some more planned Lorien Legacies characters that will be making some appearances. Normally I would keep it a surprise, but just in case some certain people really wanted to see certain characters, i'm going to tell you guys. The new characters that will show up in this story EVENTUALLY are Five, (with a human name of course), Ella, Sam, Setrakus Ra, and Sarah. Two of those specific characters might worry you cause they could rock the boat with Jix, and you are right. They are definitely gonna rock the boat a little, but don't worry your pretty little minds, Jix is endgame.**

 **And, I have some big issues coming up in the story. Like things that aren't going to make you happy, but drama makes things better. And i'm not just gonna throw it in your faces either. i'm gonna ease into it, and not just have it solved in a chapter. That way, when everything happens, you'll be really excited.**

 **Ive never liked rushed stories, and if you do, you aren't going to like this story, it's simply a fact. So please stop reading if you don't think you enjoy me taking my time to be descriptive and give you background information.**

 **Like i said before, i do have a planned major death near the end of the story, and it wont affect people very well if you don't know anything about them and don't care about them. As evil as it sounds, it's my job to make you love that character so your heartbroken when they die. You may not think you like it right now, but i think this death will REALLY bring the tragic factor to the story, and all together, will make a better one. So, i'm excited to show you some of the really cool things i have planned for this story, and the next chapter is introducing the big argument between Marina, Joseph, and their friends and how they don't approve of each other.**

 **And i also know that so far i've shown that John and Maren both have a secret that they aren't sharing with anyone, no it doesn't involve each other, but i haven't revealed them yet. And they aren't going to be plot holes, i do have their secrets planned and when they will let people know about them, but don't expect to know John's for a very long time, because his relates to the main event that will happen later in the story.**

 **Lastly, I don't know how long this story will be, it will be a pretty decent sized story so i can give everything the time it needs. I'm planning to have about 70 chapters, and not have a sequel. I don't think a sequel is a good idea for this story, for a couple different reasons. But i'm not going to explain them all. I hope this all cleared up some questions you had and again i love all you readers so if these things apply to a story you want to read, then please keep reading! Love you all so much and i'll have the next chapter up by sunday!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Hey! I know I said I wasn't sure about doing a Stanley POV but I changed my mind and decided that it would be a good one to do for this weeks chapter.**

 **Leticia: You seriously made me cry last night with your amazing reviews they always make my day. As long as you keep reading this story, I swear i'll never give it up :)**

 **Anonymous Read- Thank you so much! I am also obsessed with stories that have Marina-Maren best friendships! And i'm glad that you thought what i did with Joseph's serious side was realistic, i was afraid people would think it was OOC.**

 **Disclaimer: You all know the drill, i'm not gonna say it again lol**

 **Onto the story!**

Stanley

I'm running on the treadmill when the clock sings. It starts chiming a cheerful song for about fifteen seconds before it slowly fades away, the song snapping me out of my intense workout to remind me that it's nine. I push the stop button on the treadmill frantically, desperate to have a break after running on it for two hours. Panting, I step off after it comes to stop and lift my grey tank top up to my face to wipe off my sweat, only to realize it's already completely soaked through. I sigh in frustration as I peel it off my body, leaving me in only my sweatpants. You might be thinking, why did you wear sweatpants when you were working out? The answer is, i'm stupid.

Everyone else left training a long time ago, but ever since I joined the Resistance, I always go at least an hour over everyone else, but today I guess I got a little carried away. Probably because of all that school stuff. I groan inwardly when I remember all the schoolwork I still have to do for tomorrow. Its bad enough we have to do work to be part of this mission, but we're starting in the middle of the year, which means we're all really behind in school work.

And then we have we have the whole girl situation, I didn't realize that the girl Joseph was 'having an affair with' as John would put it, was that girl we saw in the hallway about a month ago. I mean, she's cute enough, but i don't see why Joe would risk so much just to be friends with her. And I would say that it's none of my concern, but if this girl thinks that she can just take him away from us, then she has another thing coming.

Another ding takes me out of my daydream, but it's a smaller one this time, and I may or may not have jumped a little at the noise. Nonetheless, I quickly scope the room, worried that the noise could from an enemy that found our headquarters. I cautiously continue looking under and around things until I reach a small pile of clothes. I reach out to them and as I feel the fabric, I realize two things. One, they are Joseph's training clothes from earlier, and two, they are drenched in sweat. I drop the clothes quickly and wipe my hands on my sweatpants hastily. I push the clothes away from the bench with one finger, finding Joseph's phone underneath.

The text message says it's from someone named Marina, and my eyes widen in surprise, realizing this is portably the Neutral that he's been talking to. Unfortunately, the text doesn't say anything important, Marina just asked what Joseph was up to. I'm about to walk away and continue training, but I have an urge to grab it and confront her immediately. I stand there fighting with my conscious, but I end up taking the phone anyway and unlock it, opening the screen to their conversation. And before I know it, I'm texting her back a response.

 _Oh, I was just in the shower._ I press send and wait for a response. I'm about to give up when she replies ten minutes later.

 _Ok well, you said at school that you had something to tell me. I_ freeze and drop the phone in shock. but quickly regain myself to check if I broke the phone. Luckily, it didn't break and is perfectly fine, but that only solves the small problem. The big problem is that Joseph might have to tell this girl that he likes her, like really likes her. I freak out immediately, sprinting out of the room with the phone to try and find John. I slowly jog down the hallways to conceal my anxiousness, but when I near our hallway, I start to break out into a run. Luckily, John is sitting in the couch and Joseph is still in the shower when I come bursting in. John gives me a questioning look and opens his mouth, but I put a finger to my mouth and point to the bathroom where the shower is running and you can hear the soft sound of Joseph humming. He nods in understanding and motions for me to come closer to him so I can whisper.

"What's up?" he says causally, probably thinking this is me freaking out for no reason.

"Joseph was texting that girl again" I say urgently, and even though he's really set on keeping these two apart, he looks surprisingly calm.

"And..." he trails off, raising his hands in question. I sigh frustratedly and unlock Joseph's phone again to show him their recent texts.

"Oh no" he says seriously, and his eyes widen again. "He's going to tell her..." he trails off, his voice filled with worry, "something probably not important" he says sarcastically, and I smack the back of his head. He cries out in pain and pouts as he rubs his hand against the spot that I hit.

"What?" he looks genuinely confused, but mostly just in pain.

"He could tell her that he _really_ likes her and... you know..." I drift off, hoping that he gets the idea and I don't really need to say it. His eyes widen in understanding and he quickly reaches out for the phone, but I pull it away.

"What are you doing?" I whisper yell at him, and he plucks the phone out of my hand quickly.

"Deleting the texts, otherwise he'll see it and know that you texted her without him knowing" he explains, while scrolling through the phone and deleting our small conversation.

"Should we talk to him about it?" I wonder, looking to John for the answer. Usually I don't like following other people's leads and I like to roam free and all, but I guess when a situation gets tough, you do what you have to do. Before he even gets a chance to respond, the bathroom goes silent, the sound of water no longer echoing through the room. We look at each other before John's shrugs and gets off the couch.

"It's now or never" I hear him murmur under his breath, and i can't tell if he meant to say it to me or himself. Predictably, Joseph comes out of the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around his waist, and despite the situation, I start to smirk.

"Hey princess, we have to talk. So go get some clothes on" I tease and he glares at me before walking over to his dresser and searching through the drawers slowly, whistling quietly to himself. I look at John nervously and he nods, indicating he's going to take the lead.

"So, Joe..." John starts but suddenly seems at a loss for words. Joseph turns around and gives him a confused look, before shaking his head and turning back around.

"Smooth" I whisper sarcastically, and John gives me a sarcastic smile. He then turns back to Joe, who is now pulling a shirt over his head. "We have something to.. talk about" I reason, saying my words slowly as to make sure that they made sense. A look of confusion quickly crosses his face, but he wipes it away with a grin.

"What's up?" he asks, now sitting down with us since he has all his clothes on. John begins to look more and more nervous as he shifts in his seat back and forth.

"We just need to say a... suggestion" he stutters, barely spitting out the words. I give him a doubtful look but he proceeds to keep talking. "And uh- we think it's for the best, you know, for you and uh..." he keeps on mumbling on with that same pattern, more to himself than to either of us. He tries to regain himself, and before he loses his quick dash of confidence, he bursts out the words.

"We don't want you to see Marina anymore" he bursts, regaining his confidence and slowly turning back into a more composed figure. This catches Joseph's attention quickly and he looks at us in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" he asks, narrowing his eyes at us questioningly. Before John starts rambling again, I decide to speak up.

"We know you've been texting her and hanging out with her at school, and we don't like it" I state simply, avoiding any emotion in my voice. His confusion only seems to grow and he also starts to have a small blush on his cheeks.

"What do you- How do you even know who she is?" He says, then looks down into my hands, directly at the phone that i forgot to take out of them. I quickly throw it to the other couch, but he only glares at me as he goes to pick it up. And unfortunately for me, when he unlocks the phone, the first screen to pop up is the one that has their text messages. "You searched through my phone?! What the hell is wrong with you guys?!" he yells, starting to lose the calm side he was showing before.

"Is that the reason we have no classes together?" Joseph says, quieting his voice as he realizes this. The look of betrayal on his face is almost enough to make me keep my shut, but not quite.

"She's a neutral, Joe! She's dangerous!" I reason, trying my best not to raise my voice too high to get him more mad. Joseph gives me an incredulous look and I see him also trying to keep himself cool.

"Dangerous? How on earth is _she_ dangerous?" He says, his voice tense. "If anything, we're the dangerous ones, not her" John's eyes widen quickly and mine do too, he looks at me worriedly before turning to Joe.

"This is exactly what we were worried about, she's changing you!" He says, his voice also starting to raise quickly. Joe scoffs and rolls his eyes as he gestures to us. "Maybe _this_ isn't what i want anymore! Maybe I want more than just rebellion" His voice starts to rise near the end of his sentence, causing us all to start shouting at each other.

Things seem to get heated quickly as John and I shout at Joseph about how Marina is changing him, and he keeps shouting about how she isn't one at all. After about ten minutes of shouting at each other, I stand up on the couch and yell to gather their attention. They turn to me with angry looks on their faces and I roll my eyes.

"Can we stop screaming at each other and just talk to each other!" I say calmly, only with a little voice rise at the end. I find myself surprised that i'm being the reasonable one for once, and even more surprised when they listen to me and ease back into the couch.

"I didn't mean to start yelling" Joe starts, looking at John and I apologetically.

"It's okay neither-" John starts to apologize before he's interrupted.

"But I also dont you two watching me like your my babysitter. I'm older than both of you, if you forgot. It's my life and my choice." Jospeh says, standing up and starting to walk out the door, as John and I sit in silence. We continue to stare at each, thinking that we've won this battle, until he speaks up again. "And by the way," he says, turning his back away from us and to the door.

"I'm not staying away from Marina"

And with that, he's gone.

Marina

"We need milk"

"No we don't, there's still a jug and a half in the the fridge."

"No there isn't."

"Yes there is!"

"Is not" I groan as Maren pulls another jug of milk into the shopping cart. She's the one who dragged me out here at eight at night, just to go grocery shopping. Meaning, i'm only in a sweatshirt and shorts, with my hair flying across my face with every step I take. Maren just smiles victoriously and motions for me to follow her with the cart.

"Fine, but when we get home and we have plenty of milk, i'm blaming you" I say, sighing and running a hand through my greasy hair. I was planning on showering before we left, but Maren also insists that the store closes at nine, which it doesn't.

"And you'll see that you were wrong all along" She retorts, not removing her eyes from the grocery list in front of her. Abruptly. she jerks to the left and walks straight into the alcohol aisle. My eyebrows go up in surprise and I give her a happy smile, even though she's can't see me.

"You do know that we're underaged, and I don't feel like getting arrested tonight" I tease, with an easy, but tired, smile on my face. She just throws her head over her shoulder to give me a fake smile, before glaring and turning back.

"My parents are coming back in town this week, and there's a meeting at our house on Thursday" She explains, apparently reaching what she was looking for when she picks up a bottle of champagne and putting it in the cart. She takes four more and piles them in gently while I watch her as I stand off to the side.

"Don't they usually meet in the Capital Building? Why is it at your house?" I still can't really get used to calling Maren's house 'our' house, even though she constantly tells me that I should. Saying it only makes me think of why I don't have a house with my parents, and more importantly, how they aren't here. As if sensing my inner turmoil, Maren doesn't make a comment about it and decides to focus on my question.

"I'm not sure, they said it required a different setting or something" She says absentmindedly, starting to walk back up the aisle, causing me to follow her. I nod in understanding, even though I really don't. I've never heard of the Rulers having meetings anywhere else except the Capital, and my mind briefly flashes to the thought of the prince being there.

The prince was appointed by our king, Setrakus Ra. People are supposed to call him our main ruler, and that he isn't the king because he 'doesn't want to have power over anyone else', which, as Maren would say, total bullshit. Not that Maren has ever admitted it, but saying that she disliked the king would be an understatement. Neither of us have ever been every fond of us having to follow some old mans orders, but she only cares because it makes us sound like we're in some kind of fairytale.

The prince's name is Prince Zach. He's the kings nephew, who is supposed to take his crown one day. There are many rumors that he will take power once he gets married, which causes girls to go nuts at the thought of it.

"I like Joseph" Maren states out of nowhere, causing me to snap out of my daydream. "He's definitely not my kind of guy, but he's okay for a goofy one" She decides, not bothering to look at me while she states her decision. I nod my head and try to hide the smile growing on my face.

"I'm glad you do" I say simply, staring off into space. Surprised by my bluntness, she turns to me slowly with a curious look.

"Is that all you have to say?" She says unbelievingly, like she's expecting me to go on and on about how amazing I think he is.

I shrug nonchalantly, "What else is there to say?" I ask, and she looks confused briefly, and our conversation is paused momentarily when we pull up to the self check out counter. She's scanning the milk jugs when she decides to speak up again.

"I don't know, I just thought that you like, had a thing for him" She shrugs, focusing on me instead of the things she's scanning and I'm a little surprised that she would read that much into our friendship.

"There is no 'thing'. We're just good friends" I explain, and I find myself believing my words. Sure I think Joseph is cute and all, but I wouldn't say that Im in love with him or anything.

"Okay" Is all she has to say in response, but I can see the wheels turning in her eyes and I can tell that she has more to say on the matter, but decides to drop it. We silently load all of the bags into the cart and we roll it out of the store and I sigh gratefully.

"Thank god that's over!" I say in relief, while Maren only smirks at me sarcastically. We reach the car and start loading our small amount of bags into the trunk, me doing it in silence while Maren thinks. When we're done, we hop into Maren's car and she turns on the ignition, pulling out of the parking spot carefully.

For some reason, my mind drifts to Maren, and how she's had a weird attitude this week, and has been seeming to not act like herself. How she's more closed off, and more secretive in some cases. And it also drifts to how she had left our balcony door open multiple times lately.

"Hey Maren, you left the balcony door open again last night" I say, glancing over at her. Quickly, I see a flash of what could be panic in her eyes, but it quickly disappears and I see her roll her eyes.

"Did I? Ugh I keep forgetting to do that, I guess i'm used to the fresh air so much that I keep forgetting to close it" She smiles at me while she shakes her head to herself. I nod, but I still don't find myself quite convinced.

"Maren, if anything's ever wrong, you know you can tell me, right?" I look at her for confirmation and her face softens.

"I know, Mar" And she smiles. But this time it's different. This time, her face smiles, but her eyes didnt.


	13. Chapter 12

**Hey everyone... I literally have no clue what to say haha. BUT TODAYS CHAPTER IS A BIG MOMENT. This chapter may not seem important, but in the first half, something crucial happens that leads to someone having a pretty big revelation. This IS the turning point where things will get darker and leads to problems. So hold on ladies and gentleman, this is gonna be one hell of a ride.**

 **Disclaimer: Still don't own Lorien Legacies**

 **Onto the story!**

Marina

"The scientific method is a series of steps that professors use when conducting experiments. The first step is forming a thesis which is..." Mrs. Deyoung continues to ramble on about the Scientific Process or something, but I can't really seem to gain focus. When I notice that Mrs. D isn't looking, I decide to open my notebook and I start to doodle. I don't realize what i'm doing on the paper, so I just let my pencil roam free. It glides across the page easily and I find myself getting lost in it. After letting it glide successfully across the paper for what seems like hours, i'm interrupted by a tap on my shoulder. I whip my head around quickly in surprise and I see Joseph smiling, probably at my shock.

Yesterday, he told me that his schedule got switched around and now we have a class together. Unfortunately, it had to be my science class, my least favorite class of the day, but i'll admit that having him in it has made it a little better. I had asked him why the science classes switched, but he only told me that the other class was full. But considering that he had closed off afterwards, there may be more to that story then he was letting on.

Also, our meetings outside of school have become more frequent, and we meet every Sunday and Thursday, and they're probably that frequent because Maren knows who he is and everything, so she's more willing to let me go. And then I start to wonder if Joseph has told his friends about me, and I smile and blush a little at the thought. But I quickly wipe my thoughts away and look at Joseph with a smile.

"You better put that away before Mrs. Dragon sees it" He whispers, with a teasing smile on his face. I let out a breathy laugh, and look back to the board to make sure that the teacher doesn't notice. I spare a glance down at notebook and I already regret it. This tiny gesture catches the attention of the old lady herself and looks at me with a tense look. She slowly begins to walk over to my desk while reprimanding me, gathering the attention of all the people in the room.

"Marina, I hope that you weren't doodling in class-" She stops short when she looks at the paper and she yanks it off the table and into her hands in one swift motion. Then she continues to hold it against her chest while she gives the class worried looks.

"Marina" She says tersely, not making eye contact with me, but rather with everyone else, trying to give them reassuring looks, when she's the only one who seems to be freaked out. "Why don't you go wait in the hallway? I'll be out to talk with you in a minute" I'm confused momentarily, considering she's never done this when she's caught me drawing before, but I still gather my things off my desk and walk towards the door, daring to give Joseph one small glance before I disappear through the doorway. I groan as I lean back against the bright blue lockers, and shiver once I realize they're freezing. Nonetheless, I slide down them and wait on the floor for the teacher with my arms hugging my knees.

She doesn't make an appearance until five minutes later when she storms out of the classroom, the swiftness jerking me up to my feet.

"Mrs Dra-" I begin and I mentally remind myself to reprimand Joseph for calling her that name earlier. "Mrs Deyoung, I'm so sorry and I really didn't mean to interrupt class and-" I ramble on while playing with my hands as I anxiously talk. She gives me a hard look, with her eyes narrowed and her eyebrow arched.

"You think i'm mad you were drawing?" She asks incredulously, but still keeping any sign of emotion off her face. "No, no, no, Marina" And she leans in closer to me ever so slightly, but still so close that I can smell peppermint on her breath. "I am angry, because of _what_ you were drawing. My lips purse in confusion and i'm sure it shows on my face, because she gives me a confused look herself.

"Do you not _know_ what you were doing?" She says angrily, and I shake my head in a small motion and look at the ground in embarrassment. I'm guessing that my traitorous cheeks are bright red by now, and when I look up from the floor, Mrs. D's gaze is everything but soft. She probably thinks that i'm lying about not knowing what's on the notebook, even though I didn't get a good enough look to see what it is.

But all of a sudden, her anger just seems to evaporate and she breathes out in relief.

"Well then, I guess you just don't need to see this again" She reasons, clutching the notebook tighter to her large chest. "But if you _ever,_ pull a stunt like this again, you will be expelled" She continues harshly. My eyes widen and I'm about to reply when the bell rings, drowning out what I was going to say. We look around and see students pouring out of classrooms.

Mrs. Deyoung leaves me standing there, and storms back into her classroom and throws my notebook into the trash can lightly. Faintly, I hear Joseph calling my name but Im only focused on getting my notebook back, not because I really care about it. but because I need to find out what she got so upset about. But unfortunately, she's sitting right at her desk, which makes it impossible to grab my notebook out of the trash without her noticing me.

Right when i'm about to give up all hope, she gets up briskly, and I have to rush behind a stack of lockers to avoid her seeing me. I'm sure that I look absolutely crazy to every one else, and i'm secretly hoping that Joseph has already headed to his next class without me so he doesn't have to see me running around like i'm in a spy movie. I glance to the clock eagerly and see that I only have two minutes before my next period starts.

I give one more look down the hallway that Mrs. D went down to make sure she's gone, and then i run into the classroom. Thankfully, there isn't anyone in the classroom, and I have an open area to read my notebook. I dig in the trash can for a second before feeling the smooth surface of my notebook, not caring if I smell like trash after this, since I won't even see Joseph for the rest of the day.

I run my hand over my notebooks surface before opening it gently and rummage through the pages, trying to find the one I drew on, but when I find it, the breath gets sucked out of me and I drop the notebook on the floor.

It's the thing I love most in the world.

It's the pattern i've been thinking about nonstop, without meaning to.

It's the pattern tattooed on Joseph's neck.

Three stars.

In a triangular setup.

The symbol of the Resistance.

Without meaning to, a strangled cry escapes my lips, and I scramble to the floor trying to pick up the notebook and before it know what i'm doing, i'm ripping the paper into pieces. I'm tearing it with all my strength, and i'm watching them fall to the floor gracefully. And only when the teardrops start falling onto the paper below me, do I realize that i'm crying.

It makes so much sense, this isn't why Mrs. Deyoung had freaked out and screamed at me, because she thought I was part of the Resistance.

I let this all happen, I let Joseph get so close to me, that all i've been thinking about is the damn Resistance. And i've been thinking about how it might not be so bad, but it is.

My mom. My dad. They wouldn't have wanted this, they would want me to learn from their mistakes and do better than them. But I screwed up, I let this boy with the emerald eyes and huge smile blind me from what he's a part of.

To everyone else this might not be a big deal, but when I lose myself in drawing, it's never been anything as serious as this. And it's making me realize that ive beene thinking about the Resistance far more than i'd like to admit.

And Joseph's not a bad guy, but what he's a part of is a bad thing, and I completely forgot that. I let myself think that maybe if something were to happen between us.. what am I thinking? Just nights ago I had told Maren that I don't like him as more than a friend, and I had believed it. But seeing this.. it changes things.

When I used to get carried away when i'm drawing, i'd draw a person or the ocean or something. But this boy has wiggled his way so far into my mind that my constant thoughts are all about this awful society.

I'm surprised that Mrs. Deyoung hasn't come back yet and walked in on my breakdown, but i'm assuming that this must be her free hour, lucky me. I've noticed that in the middle of my thoughts, the bell had rang, and class started five minutes ago, but that's the last thing on my mind. Slowly, I pick up all the pieces of paper and drop them into the trash can once more. I close my eyes for a good twenty seconds, and when a I open them, the tears are gone, along with any emotion of before. So I pick up my binder, and walk out of the classroom and towards the office to get a late slip.

I get there, and tell them that I was feeling a little sick, which is true. But also that I felt better now, which completely wasn't true. But either way, I thank them politely and force myself to walk every step to my math classroom.

Step, step, step. That's the only thought I think about the entire way to my class. Because if I dare let myself think about what i'm going to possibly do about everything that's going on, i'm going to breakdown again, right in the middle of the hallway for the entire school to see. Including him. And i'm not ready for that.

John

"Wow you really know how to pack a punch" Cole comments, bending over to control his breathing. I let out a breathy laugh and resist the urge to double over to be able to catch my breath. I wipe sweat off my brow and roll my neck, getting into position fight again.

We've been training for the past half hour, having a private lesson like we do every Wednesday. I guess it's not really important considering i'm more developed in training than almost everyone else, but I look up to Cole a lot and I appreciate his specific tips on fighting techniques and stuff. Even though he's only twenty, he's very wise for his age and seems to know everything there is to know about life, and he is the leader of the Resistance, so he knows exactly what's happening about the school mission that I don't.

"This time, spread your legs apart so it's harder to knock you over" I listen to what Cole says and tiredly spread them apart. I kick high and push in the block in Cole's hand, and despite it being a pretty good hit, he doesn't even stumble. He just laughs and encourages me to hit him harder. I punch him and try to focus on the satisfaction of hitting the block, and not the sudden pain creeping into my hands.

I let out another punch and unfortunately for me, I let out a grunt of pain and Cole notices. He puts down the block gently and comes over to look at my hands. He examines them for a second before nodding his head reluctantly.

"We should probably stop for today, we can pick up with that tomorrow" And despite wanting to keep going, I nod in agreement since we had already gone over the hour. I sit down on the closest bench to me and take a long swig from my water bottle. Cole does the same on the bench opposite of me and wipes a small amount of sweat on his gray shirt.

"So how's the mission at the high school going?" I say, purely out of curiosity, and also maybe a small check in and make sure everything's going smooth with Joseph. Cole shrugs and starts to gain a sad look on his face.

"It's not. There aren't any signs of the Prince doing his searches there so far" He says.

My eyebrows furrow i'm confusion. "What searches?" Cole looks reluctant to tell me and I give him a knowing look, since i've been here with the Resistance for two years now, I feel like I should be more included in the little secret missions.

"We have a word that he's looking for a new wife. And that he's starting his searching in this city, since Mr. and Mrs. Straub live here" He says, and my heart races at the brief mention of Maren's parents names.

"And is he?"

"We aren't sure about that part. We haven't seen him around the school at all" He shrugs and gets up to put the training block we were using earlier away. As he works, I think over what he said and before I can think, my thoughts come right out of my mouth.

"Joseph knows the girl who's staying with their family" I spit out, and try to hide my shock that I had actually said that out loud. Cole turns around and raises an eyebrow.

"Marina Reyes?" He asks, and I nod quickly. Frankly, i'm surprised that he knew who she was at all, let alone her name. "Are you sure?" He looks unconvinced but I just roll my eyes.

"Of course i'm sure, i've met her" And this grabs Coles attention immediately. I mentally smack myself at my stupidity, and remind myself to do it again later. But either way, I nod tensely and he walks over to me quickly.

"John, if you're lying, i'm seriously going to kick your ass" And despite his seriousness, I snort and push him out of my face gently.

"Like you could. And no, i'm not lying" I say and he whoops i'm happiness despite my insult. He starts to run around the rooms border excitedly, jumping like a little boy on Christmas.

"Why is this so great?" I say, and he looks at me like i'm insane.

"Why? Because you two can ask her questions, that's why! Wait, she doesn't know he's part of the Resistance right?" He asks, stopping his jumpiness quickly. I shake my head and open my mouth to speak but he interrupts me.

"Perfect! It's already ten, so you two can go over this weekend and just ask her what she knows, but be subtle about it of course... and make sure that the Rulers daughter isn't there, Maren, is it?" My heart goes to my throat on instinct at her name and I nod slightly.

"That's all great, but Marina knows that _i'm_ in the Resistance" I reason, getting to my feet. Cole furrows his eyebrows i'm confusion and looks at me hard.

"And _why_ would she know that?" He wonders, but his voice is anything but soft. He may be a pretty carefree guy, but Cole's anger is pretty scary when he wants it to be, so I quickly backtrack myself.

"I was just guessing" I say nervously, but Cole doesn't look convinced so I continue. "We used to know each other, and I just kinda, left school. But I can tell her that I just moved" I ramble, knowing that that isn't true at all, and i'm one hundred percent sure Maren had told her that I had joined, because I wouldn't see a reason why she wouldn't. Cole lets out a sigh but still smiles i'm relief.

"Well then it's settled. Saturday, you and him are going over there" He states, and lets out a triumphant grin. I smile sheepishly and start grasping for straws for a reason why this shouldn't happen.

"What if Maren's there that day?" I ask, briefly wondering if my voice got too tight when I said her name. But even if I did, Cole doesn't seem notice at all and just shrugs.

"We'll figure something out" He says, shrugging once more before starting to talk again. "I have to go tell the rest of the board. See ya, John" He states excitedly, rushing out of the room before I get another word out.

I pick up all my things and trudge back to my room in shame, cursing myself again for letting all those stupid things for slipping out. I slide the door open to see that Joseph is already sound asleep in bed and Stanley's sitting up on his bed and was scrolling through his phone. When he hears me come in he looks up and glances to Joseph before giving me a teasing grin.

"Hey, we're actually going to be able to sleep tonight without his phone going off every two seconds" He jokes, leaning his head back on his headboard. I give him a tired smile instead of laughing and he looks at me with curiosity.

"Did training go okay?" He asks, not really concerned, but more of curiosity. I groan and flop right down onto my bed.

"I don't want to talk about it" I complain, shifting so i'm under my covers, not seeming discouraged by this, he laughs.

"I'm guessing that your big ass mouth got the best of you?" He takes my silence as a yes and I hear him chuckle from across the room. I groan again before shifting into my final position and I feel myself drifting to sleep.

What the hell did I just get myself into?

 **Haha Silly John. And one more note before you guys leave.**

 **I had gotten over 100 views last chapter, but no reviews. Like what? Please, please, please review if you have the time and i really don't care if it's long. Sure I like those more, but even a few words REALLY encourages me to write more. So pleaseee review and have a great day!**


	14. Chapter 13

**NAVRINA MEET UP THIS CHAPTER! Woah, i need to calm down. Haha I missed these hangouts I guess, I bet you guys did too, considering there hasn't been like any at all, and i'm sorry about that, I just needed to get a few other things rolling before it happened :) And next chapter is big "Saturday" thing mentioned last chapter, not this one.**

 **Disclaimer: I only own the plot of this story, the characters belong to James Frey**

 **Onto the story!**

Marina

"Two strawberry banana smoothies, please" I say, digging around in my purse for money. The employee nods once and is about to walk away when a voice pops up from behind me.

"Make that three, on me" They say, and I'm about to interrupt them and tell them that it's fine, when I recognize the voice and turn around slowly with a sarcastic grin on my face, trying to ignore the goosebumps on my skin at the close proximity. As predicted, Joseph stands there with an ever-present cheerful smile on his face. I roll my eyes and give the guy working the stand a quick glance, indicating him to go ahead with the order, and turn back to him.

"You didn't have to do that" I say, but he furrows his eyebrows his disapproval and shakes his head.

"What kind of friend would I be if I didn't pay for my obviously poor friend" He teases, but keeps a serious look on his face, causing me to roll my eyes again. It's an unusually hot Friday, and school was let out just a few hours ago. Maren has sent me to get smoothies for our girls night tonight, since she went out to get face masks or something. I know, it seems very unlike Maren to get a face masks, but she had been worried about me when I showed up to Math late, along with puffy red eyes.

I had told her it was nothing, and that I had gotten whacked in the eye with a tree branch, but she looked right past that lie. I never ended up telling her the truth, obviously, but she decided that I needed relaxing.

I turn back to Joseph with another sarcastic look and stick my tongue out at him. "Ha ha. You're _so_ funny" I mock and he gives me another satisfied look.

"I know, right?" He's about to say more when the barista comes back with our smoothies. And i guess I didn't notice before that he's pretty cute, and he apparently seems to think the same way about me, because he looks me up and down with a smirk before talking.

"It's on the house" He says while giving Joseph a quick glance, "For the cutie" He gives me a wink and my cheeks flare up red immediately. Luckily, Joseph gives him a response before I have to open my mouth and let out a babble of thoughts.

"Oh thanks, I just did something new with my hair" He says, putting on a high pitched voice, surely trying to mock me. My mouth drops in shock and I turn to him with an angry look before he wraps his arm around my shoulders and grabs the smoothies, starting to guide me away from the counter. "Let's go, babe" The barista just stands there with his mouth open, along with mine, as Joseph guides me to an outdoor table. He sets our smoothies down and settles down across from me.

My mouth opens again in anger and i look at him incredulously. "What the hell was that?" Trying to sound more angry than I really am, and I use my fake anger to keep my mind of the thought of him calling me 'babe'. He simply shrugs and looks at me with a fake sympathy smile.

"Sorry Mar, but that guy looked like bad news. I was simply helping you out" He continues to look unbothered, and takes another sip of his smoothie, while looking around outside peacefully. Still trying to keep up the angry act, I grab his smoothie out of hand and take a long sip from it. He looks at me with a surprised look, but I continue to sip and smile victoriously. When i've had my fun, I stop and give him an innocent smile.

"Sorry Joe, but that smoothie looked like bad news. I was simply helping you out" I say and he glares and sticks his tongue out at me. I let out a successful and happy grin and i'm about to tease him again when he grabs _my_ smoothie and takes a big sip. I gasp in shock, but I can't fight the smile that's making its way across my lips. He raises his eyebrows at me and I open my mouth to curse at him when he gives me a warning look.

"Fine, you win" I admit, raising my hands up in defeat, and he grins triumphantly. I still give him another glare, before deciding to change conversation topics.

"So what are you doing here?" I ask, and he smiles and opens his mouth to respond, but then shuts it sadly and just shrugs. My eyebrows furrow in confusion, but then I realize that this must be about more resistance stuff. I try not to let my face fall and I put on a disappointed smile.

"You can't tell me, huh?" And I'm disappointed by how sad my voice sounds, because he looks at me sadly and nods.

"I want to tell you, but I can't" I nod, and fight my urge to retort something snarky back to him, and I try to make sure my voice doesn't come out too harsh.

"I just wish that you knew you could trust me" My voice has a slight edge, but other than that he doesn't seem very upset. He just lets a out a sigh and looks at me earnestly.

"You know it isn't like that. I just-"

"I thought it'd bring us closer if we could share a secret with each other, but i guess not" I finally pull out my puppy dog eyes and I can practically see him melt at the sight of them, since he gives in immediately.

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you" He says, and i have to fight the smile starting to break through. Unfortunately, I fail. But he only gives me a tired smile at the look of my excitement.

"I'm not on a mission right now or anything" He begins, making sure to keep his voice low so we aren't heard. "Our headquarters are right off St. Claire's street. Right down the block" He gives a small point in that direction and I turn my head to see the "old warehouse" he's pointing at, even though i'm sure it's much more high tech on the inside.

I look back to him to see him giving me a hopeful smile, like he's thinking i'm about to shout it out to the entire world. I give him a playful smile and nudge him with my arm.

"Come on, i'm not going to tell anyone. Don't worry" I give him a thoughtful look and he seems to loosen up a little bit. From the inside of the restaurant, I hear music begin to play softly, and we both sit in a comfortable silence.

 _Beauty queen of only eighteen_

 _She had some trouble with herself_

 _He was always there to help her_

 _She always belonged to someone else_

A gentle smile takes place on my face and I look at the table gently, avoiding Joseph's eyes completely. I look to the setting around us, trying to distract myself from anything other than him.

 _I drove for miles and miles and wound up at your door_

 _I've had you so many times, but somehow I want more_

It's my favorite time of day. Almost sunset but not quite, and the sun is shining as brightly ever. And I can feel the wind blowing around my face gently. I can feel Joseph's eyes on me but I refuse to let myself turn to him.

 _I don't mind spending every day_

 _Out of your corner in the pouring rain_

 _Look for the girl with the broken smile_

 _Ask her if she wants to stay for a while_

Finally, I will myself to look Josephs eyes and I see them sparkling as much as ever. But I also see him giving me a weird look. His eyes are soft and he looks like he's cherishing what he's seeing.

 _And she will be loved_

 _And she will be loved_

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I say shyly, pulling a strand of my loose hair behind my hair, and his smile only grows.

"Because you look beautiful" He states simply, and my cheeks turn pink slowly. "But it's more than that, you look really.." He pauses, searching for the right word. And the one he settles on makes me smile.

"Alive"

 _Tap on my window, knock on my door_

 _I want to make you feel beautiful_

Even though I understand it all, I just look down shyly and say: "I.. don't know what your talking about" His face relaxes and he shrugs happily.

"Sure you do, you look like you can do anything, you look... invincible" He smiles sheepishly at his words but I only smile curiously.

 _I know I tend to get insecure_

 _It doesn't matter anymore_

"Invincible" I say, my voice full of curiosity. But Joseph still continues to look embarrassed and plays subconsciously with a napkin on the table.

 _And she will be loved_

 _And she will be loved_

The music slowly fades away, but my thoughts only become stronger. I feel like I have so many things I need to say. I could deny it, I could get mad at him for saying it, but that would be lying, wouldn't it? Instead, I let my thoughts go for a minute and my brain settles on the most important thought.

"I like that"

Maren

"Da da dum dum. Da da dum dum, da da daaaaaa" I sing at the top of my lungs, while dancing around my room. Im also trying to clean my room before we mess it up for girls night, but I see, to be doing more of the dancing part. I'm swaying while trying to fold a blanket when I trip over a shoe and face plant on the floor.

"Shit" I swear, as I rub my knee in pain. I groan loudly and and glare at my knee quickly before standing up and waddling back over to the half-folded blanket. I continue to grunt in pain, but that doesn't stop me from swinging around the room, doing hell knows what.

"So what? i'm still a rockstar! I got my rock moves and I don't need you!" I whip my hair over my shoulder to see a surprised and happy Marina in the doorway. And, she's recording me. My cheeks flush in embarrassment as she starts to laugh, and I lunge for her phone. She holds it out of my reach cheekily and I glare at her, giving up since I'm not in the mood to fight with her.

"You better not show that to anyone" I groan, rubbing my hand over my face. She grins cheekily as I walk over to shut off the music. When it stops, she looks around the room and gives me a fake smile.

"Wow. You seemed to accomplish..." She pauses, taking a glance at the floor, which is covered with dirty laundry. "Absolutely nothing" She looks even more 'fake happy' when I stick my tongue out at her. She gives me another smile before setting down the smoothies that I didn't even seem to notice before. I also notice that she has a cardboard holder that's supposed to hold four smoothie, and I raise my eyes in question.

"Why do you have one of time cup holders if you only got two smoothies?" I question, and she looks at it with realization before turning back to me.

"I ran into Joseph there, and he got one two" I nod in understanding and give her a hopeful smile.

"Did he pay?" I say sheepishly and Marina opens her mouth in surprise.

"Maren!" She yells, and I shrug innocently. But I continue to give her a hopeful look before she gives in and sighs.

"He was going to, but then the barista thought I was cute, so he said it was on the house" She says nonchalantly, picking up and folding the blanket that I didn't finish doing. My eyes widen momentarily and I give her a teasing look.

"Oh? And what did Joseph have to say about that?" I say lightly, and Marina's cheeks light up with pink and she looks down shyly.

"Uh N-Nothing" She stammers and my mouth drops open as I continue to tease her.

"Oh wow, sounds like he got a little jelly" My voice rises at the end as I start to mock her. She glares at me and crosses her arms over her chest angrily.

"It was not like that! He was just being... protective" She pouts at me and I give her an incredulous look.

"Oh, yeah. Like a big brother" I put air quotes around the end of my sentence, but her face still lights up at my words and she grins happily.

"Exactly!" She pipes up, grinning excitedly. I give her a glare before standing up slowly.

"I was joking" She shrugs and starts to fold the clothes in a full laundry basket on my bed.

"Will you get over this whole, Joseph and Marina- happily ever after thing?" She complains, folding my new blouse over her lap. I give her a teasing smile before turning to her in triumph.

"Nope" She is the one to flash me a glare this time and I give her an innocent look.

"We are friends!" She stress, and I only click my tongue in response as I wipe down the bathroom counter.

"Marina, friends don't lie"

"I'm not lying!" Her voice cracks on the last word and I turn to her and give her a serious look, trying to calm her down. She sighs and lets out frustrated noise, and I think I see a glassy layer in her eyes. I walk towards her calmly and I can practically feel my own face fall.

"I didn't mean to make you upset" I say softly, avoiding her eyes completely. But she touches my arm to get her attention and I hear her sniffle lightly.

"It's not your fault. I should have told you when you asked last week" She reasons, rubbing my arms gently. I've noticed that she does this a lot, she'll pretend i'm the one who needs comforting when she's really upset, because that's just the motherly figure she is.

She lets out another frustrated blow before running a hand through her hair. "I-I dont know when I started to think it was something more. Hell, it might not even be that. I might just be thinking that I like him when he's the only real guy friend i've ever had" She rubs her temple as she sits back down on the bed, and I sit beside her and rub her back gently.

"I know what you mean" I say slowly, trying to think of a way to say this without bursting into tears. "When I was with John..." Marina seems to tense a little at the sound of his name, since she's hated him more than I have, ever since he broke my heart.

"When I was with John, or rather, before I was with John, I definitely wasn't able to figure out is he were supposed to be friends or more than friends." She leans up and looks at me in slight confusion, and is about to speak up when I interrupt her.

"Don't worry about your feelings okay. If you think it's supposed to be more, then just go for it" I encourage, and she seems like she almost agrees, but she seems to have something holding her back from it.

"Now what?" I say, laughing to try and hide the frustration in my voice. She shakes her head sadly and looks at me with fear.

"It's not that simple" Is all she says, and I give her a look indicating for her to say something more. "What if.. when I do decide what I want" She trails off, with another look of uncertainty as she bites her lip. "He doesn't want the same thing?" And the small break in her voice breaks my heart. And before I know it, the tears in her eyes flood over and pour over her face.

She breaks out into angry sobs as she breaks down, and i have to bite my lip to keep my tears from falling as I see her break down like this. She tries to wipe away the tears that continue to stream down her face, but falls miserably. I pull her face out of her hands gently and stroke away her tears with my thumb.

I'm not sure when i've changed to a person like this. After being friends with Marina for so long, she seemed to have rubbed off on me a little. Normally I wouldn't ever be this gentle, and i'm not with anyone else, but with Marina, who has been like my sister since birth, I'm fine with making an exception.

Marina's tears seem to slow down and she gives me a small and pathetic smile as I start to encourage her.

"I've seen the way he looks at you, Mar. He really cares about you" I say, stroking wet stands of hair out of her face.

"That doesn't mean it's romantic feelings" She mumbles under her breath. I let out a small chuckle and remove my hand from her face and take her hands in mine.

"No, it doesn't necessarily. But _I_ personally think he's deeply in love with you" I say. teasing her a small bit. She gives me a hopeful look before giving me an innocent one.

"Does he look at me the way John looked at you?" Unfortunately, I feel a pang of hurt as she mentions his name, but I give her a sad look.

"No, he doesn't. He actually looks like he cares about your feelings" I can't help but f

give him a subtle dig and Marina gives me a look of protest.

"Maren-" She starts but I quickly hold up a hand.

"It's not the time to talk about that. But do you know what I think it is time for?" I raise a playful eyebrow at her and her eyes finally see, clear as she gives me a grateful smile.

"What?" And when I run across the room and grab the, out fo my bag, her face shines in clear happiness and relief, glad that the dramatic part of the night is over. I pull a dramatic pose and sing my following words playfully.

"Face masks"

 **Wow. Big chapter, like yikes. But remember that just because Marina's realized that she MAY have feelings for Joseph, problems are on the horizon.**

 **Also, the song in Marina's POV was She will be loved from Maroon 5, and one line from So What by Pink was in Maren's POV and I own neither of them!**

 **And thank you so much for the reviews, i loved them so much! They honestly make my heart so happy when I see them but I love you all so much! Hope you enjoyed!**


	15. Chapter 14

**Hey everyone! Thank you all so much for the views and reviews! And a special thanks to Anonymous-Read and Leticia for always leaving really heartwarming reviews, I love you both so much! This is the most critical chapter so far, so be ready. AND WARNING, THERE IS SOME MINIMAL SWEARING AHEAD.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Lorien legacies or the characters, just this story plot.**

 **Onto the story!**

John

"Remind me why we're doing this again" I roll my eyes while pulling on my shirt. Joseph is laying down on his bed, already ready to go to Marina's house, even though he's complaining.

"Because, from what i've heard, you two are getting serious. So, I need to go and ask her some questions" I tease him lightly, while smoothing down my plain grey t shirt. He narrows his eyes and gives me a slightly guarded look.

"If you threaten her, I swear to God John-" He says. his voice low when I interrupt him.

"Chill Joe, I seriously just want to talk to her" I say, putting my hands in front of me like I think he'll attack me. He obviously cares about Marina more than he likes to show, which angers me because i've seemed to really be really failing at keeping them apart. And obviously i'm lying, because if I told him that i'm really there for "resistance questioning" he wouldn't be a big fan of that either.

"Sorry" He mumbles sheepishly, rubbing his neck in embarrassment. It's obvious he didn't want to show me how much he really cares about this girl, thinking I may do something to hurt her. But he obviously doesn't know me very well.

I grew up with Marina, and i've been friends with her before Maren and her even had met. We had a stupid little kindergarten affair, if you could even call it that. I had stole her sucker and had kissed her on the cheek to make up for it, so we were childhood sweethearts, until first grade. We had different teachers so she broke up with me and moved onto the next toddler.

Then Maren and her had met in third grade. She never introduced us, simply because she didn't feel the need to. Then Maren and I had met on a faithful day in the seventh grade. November 17, 2013. Nothing romantic happened at all, but it always felt like something was there. Marina and I had been as close as ever, and I was always like her brother. Which is why she felt so upset when I had broke Maren's heart and joined the Resistance.

It was almost worst than when Maren had found out, because she had screamed at me and yelled and pushed me. But Marina just stood there, with tears welling up in her eyes and telling me how much of a monster I was. We were like brother and sister, and I had left her, no wonder she probably hates me. So honestly, tonight is about to be much worse for me than Joseph, but he just doesn't know it.

I shake myself out of my thoughts and turn to Joseph with a cheerful smile. Asking him where Marina lives, a question that I already know the answer to. He tells me and I pretend to look like i'm deeply listening while I pull on my shoes and throw on a small jacket.

"We going to drive or walk?"

~~~ page break ~~~

We pull into the driveway as quietly as we can, after deciding to go with a car since it's a little colder outside than normal. It's about ten at night and i'm silently hoping that Maren isn't home, because I never really had a chance to make sure.

"You ready?" Joseph asks from the passenger seat. I nod and we both climb out of the car.

We stroll up the driveway before Joseph grabs my arm and turns me to him. "Do not embarrass me" He says sternly. And I give him a chuckle and pat him on the arm.

"No promises" And despite my words, he laughs easily and knocks on the door, and i, grateful he's in a good mood now, because it's about to be easily ruined. The door creaks open and stands a surprised Marina, wearing nothing but a tank top and shorts. She looks embarrassed when she sees Joseph and gives him a shy look as he just smiles at her.

"Hey Joseph, what are you doing-" She says shyly with a peaceful smile on her face, so peaceful that it shocks me when it immediately disappears when she sees me.

"What the hell are you doing here, John" She glares intensely and her voice sounds the most threatening i've ever heard it. I let out a sigh and Joseph gives Marina a confused look.

"You two know each other?" He looks between us and I nod slowly. "Why didn't you tell me?" He says, turning to me, and Marina crosses her arms and gives me a pointed look.

"Yeah John, why didn't you tell him?" And with that, she slams the door in my face and Joseph does a small jump in surprise.

"Uh.. what was that?" He asks, and I shake my head quickly before pounding on the door.

"Come on Marina, let me in. I just need to talk to you!" She doesn't budge and I continue to yell louder and louder with every word. "Mar!"

She opens the door with a glare and narrows her eyes at me. "Don't call me that" I sigh and she looks like she's about to close the door again when I put a hand in front of it to stop her.

"Please. Let me talk to you" She crosses her arms in the doorway and glances at Joseph behind me, and her look softens. I turn around and sure enough, he's giving her a very confused and, almost sad, look.

"Can someone explain what's going on here, please?" He says, trying to keep the impatientness out of his voice. He has a dawning look and looks between us quickly.

"Did you two used to date?" He asks, and Marina makes a surprised sound despite herself. We both look at her alarmed and she looks at me with fake disgust.

"No!" And when she sees my look, she quickly tries to back track. "I didn't mean it like that, it's just-" She makes a frustrated noise and steps outside with us and shuts the door behind her.

"What do you want?" She sounds angry still, but I can tell it's starting to fade into frustration. I look at Joseph and he just shrugs.

"I don't know. You're the one who insisted we come here" Marina raises an eyebrow at me suspiciously.

"You aren't here to see Maren, are you? Cause there is no way in hell that i'm letting you do that" She gives me another threatening look and I roll my eyes.

"No, i'm not here to see her" And her look lightens up a small bit, before Joseph gives us more looks of confusion and speaks up.

"Can someone _please_ explain how you two know each other" He hesitates and looks to Marina while gesturing to me. "And how does he know Maren" Marina and I glance at each other and before she can talk, I take the lead.

"Before I-" And I stop immediately, remembering that Marina doesn't know that Joseph is part of the Resistance. And as if reading my mind, Joseph rolls his eyes and crosses his arms.

"Go ahead, she already knows" My eyes widen in alarm and I look to Marina for confirmation. She nods her head slowly while biting her lip and I bite mine while I start to think. There's so many things running through my head that I can't process anything. Why would Marina be friends with Joe when she knew he was in the Resistance?

I push the thought aside and mentally remind myself to ask her later, but for now, I start telling our story. How she and I had met in grade school, when she met Maren, when I met Maren, and when we started dating.

"And then, I joined the Resistance" I finish, but Marina decides that it's not detailed enough and feels the need to add on.

"And broke Maren's heart. Asshole" She mutters under her breath and despite myself, I chuckle and so does Joseph. But Marina raises her eyebrows at Joseph and crosses her arms.

"You think that that's funny?" She asks, without the threatening tone. And he immediately stops and tries to explain himself.

"O-Of course not. Maren's great, it's just- funny the way you said it" He rambles, but she still looks unconvinced. He flashes her a hopeful smile and I can practically see melt at the sight of it and her eyes soften and she gives him a shy smile back. I shy away from them a small bit, feeling like i'm intruding something private, until Marina turns to me.

"I didn't know that you two were friends" She says, and I shrug, leaning back against a pole.

"Well, sure. Joseph and Stanley took me under their wings when I joined the Resistance" She bites her lip in thought, and looks at Joseph questioningly.

"Who's Stanley? You always talk about him" Something flashes in Joseph's eyes quickly, before it disappears and he puts on a grim smile.

"He's that tall guy, with the long black hair" He explains, but Marina continues to look lost so he continues. "He's the guy who was checking you out at school" My eyebrows raise in surprise and Marina's cheeks flare up red immediately.

"He was not checking me out" She mumbles, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. Joseph rolls his eyes and gives her a teasing look.

"Mar, boys check you out wherever we go, how can you not have noticed?" He asks incredulously, starting to laugh.

Marina's mouth drops in surprise and she furrows her eyebrows. "They do not!" She exclaims, and I start laughing too, giving Joseph a nod so he can look at me.

"They probably were. Marina has been breaking boys hearts since she was a toddler" I say, and Joseph bursts out laughing, while Marina gives me a glare and sticks out her tongue.

"Whatever" She says, clearing still not believing us, but playing along with it anyway. "It's not my fault that i'm so-" She's interrupted by someone walking down the hallway inside the house and calling her name.

"Marina? Who are you talking to?" I recognize the voice immediately and my heart pounds in fear. Marina turns on her heel quickly and shoves me into a bush right off the porch. I land with a big thud and mutter a curse, but still rearrange the leaves so no one can see me. Marina turns to the door right before it opens and already prepares a smile.

As fate would have it, Maren turns the corner and crosses her arms. My breath almost gets taken away by the sight of her. She's dressed in simple red shirt and leggings, but she looks at gorgeous as ever. But I snap myself out of it and focus on the conversation they have.

"Where have you been Marina I was- Oh, hey Joseph" When she acknowledges him, he steps out from behind Marina and gives her a small wave.

"Hey, Maren" He says, and she gives Marina a knowing smile, when she takes in how close Joseph and her are standing.

"If your two are busy, then I can just wait back inside" She says, her smile only growing. Both of their cheeks flair up, and Marina steps away from Joseph shyly, shooting him an apologetic look.

"N-No it's fine. He was just leaving" She says, already guiding Joseph down the steps of the porch, and she gives me a small glance saying to hold on just a second.

We're almost in the clear, when I glance to Maren and see her smile disappear completely, and melts into something almost like a look of terror.

"Marina..? What's that on his neck?" She asks softly, and my heart drops to the ground. The tattoos. We didn't cover them up. Marina realizes this too, and goes up on her tip toes to out an arm around Joseph's neck.

"I don't know what your talking about" She says sheepishly, shooting Maren a smile, and I have to admit that Marina has become much better at lying. Joseph also tries to give Maren a smile, but she starts walking closer to the pair, and i'm furious that I can't do anything to help them, because i'm stuck in a goddamn bush.

Maren walks towards them very slowly, with a look on her face indicating that she thinks she knows what's there, but she doesn't want to believe it.

"Marina, move your arm" She says quietly, and Marina's eyes have a flash of fear, but it's gone so quick that it almost seems imagined.

"I don't know. I'm pretty comfortable-" She starts before Maren gives her a threatening glare.

"Marina, _move your arm"_ She glares down at her, but Marina doesn't budge. But after losing patience, Maren yanks her arm away from his neck, and that's the fateful moment that she sees the tattoo.

The affect is instant, and Maren yanks Marina away from Joseph so hard that she clutches her arm in pain.

"You stay the hell away from Marina!" Maren screams and Joseph gives her a terrified look.

"Maren, you don't understand. I would never hurt her-"

"I don't give a fuck what you say! You lied to me, and for an awful reason. So you come just go on and pretend you like her, then your going to break her heart. Because that's the kind of bastards that your people are" She yells threateningly, Marina comes up from behind her and is about to speak when I fall out fo my crouching position and onto my side, rattling the whole bush.

Everyone's head snaps to the bush, and Maren loses control again.

"See! He has a freaking spy in the bush!" And with that, she starts moving around branches to find me. It takes her a second, but when she moves the last branch to reveal my face, her face drops and looks at me for a second, before slapping me across the face, and i hold my face in pain.

She staggers away from me, and turns to Marina angrily as I start to climb out of the bush.

"What the hell is going on here?" She says, her voice low. When i'm fully out of the bush, she turns to me again, with tears welling up in her eyes. We stare at each other for a second before she speaks.

"Go inside, Marina" She says, without breaking eye contact with me.

She gives Joseph a short look before looking at the broken girl standing in front of me. "Maren-"

"Go inside!" Maren yells, whipping her head at her. Marina bites her lip and looks like she's holding back tears, as she looks to Joseph and says two last words.

"I'm sorry" And her voice sounds so broken that I look down close my eyes. Marina walks inside slowly, but i'm sure she's still waiting outside the door.

"Go. Both of you" Maren whispers, and she looks to Joseph threateningly. "And if I ever see you near Marina again, you'll be sorry" Joseph gives her a sad look before nodding slowly. And with that, Maren storms back inside and slams the door in our faces.

Joseph and I walk back to the car in disappointment, and I try to turn and talk to Jospeh reasonably.

"I'm really sorry, Joe. I didn't think-"

He looks at me with an angry and heartbroken look. And I see something that I didn't notice before, tears in his eyes. He looks away from me and sighs, not wanting to see anymore of my face.

"Just drive, John"

Marina

I sit quietly on my air mattress and play with a loose string in my shorts. I twirl it around my finger anxiously as I wait for Maren to come back inside. I heard the door slam a few minutes ago, so i'm pretty sure she's inside the house, but she hasn't come in yet. And i'm very grateful for that, she needs some time to cool down.

I was planning to tell Maren eventually, but things were just going so great, I thought I wouldn't have to do it until she absolutely loved him, and that it would soften the blow. And certainly it didn't help with John's sudden appearance.

Seeing him again really hurt, I hadn't seen him since the night he told me he left school for the Resistance, the same night he told Maren. And he had told her first, which also kinda hurt, mainly because we had known each other since kindergarten, and they met in middle school, through me. But at the same time, it makes sense that he told her first, considering they they were dating.

There had never been any romantic feelings between John and I, unless you count kindergarten dating, and us kissing each other on the cheek sometimes. But he was like my older brother, even if he was younger than I was. And the only reason we're in the same grade is because he skipped a grade level, and never went to preschool.

My thoughts are interrupted when Maren storms into the room. causing me to be on my feet immediately. I don't even get a chance to speak before she starts to yell, i'm guessing that calming down didn't go too well.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asks, her voice is angry, but at least it isn't at the yelling stage yet. I want to keep peace, but I can't help but feel slightly angry at the way she yelled at the boys.

"Because I knew you would act this way" I reply, crossing my arms, and accidentally letting an accusing tone take place in my voice. Her eyebrows raise at my tone and she looks at me surprised.

"Well, i'm sorry if I'm trying to protect you" She says incredulously, and I roll my eyes, turning to fold my blanket impatiently.

"Yeah, right. What's Joseph supposed to do to me?" I burst angrily, letting my voice drip with sarcasm. Even if I can't see her, i'm sure her arms are out in frustration.

"Break your heart!" She finally screams after hesitating, and I turn on my heel as quick as a flash.

"That's pretty hard to do considering i'm not in love with him!" My voice raises to a scream and Maren rolls her eyes.

"Don't fool yourself" She snarks, and my mouth opens in surprise.

"I'm _not_ in love with him! How many times do I have to say it!" She turns to me with angry tears in her eyes.

"As many times as it takes for you to sound convincing" I grit my teeth and bite my lip angrily.

"Shut up, Maren!" I scream, and she gives me a look of surprise. "Just shut up! You have no right to make any comments about my love life!" I scream sarcastically.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She crosses her arms angrily and I roll my eyes.

"John was in love with you. He wanted to still be with you, but he needed you to believe in him" I explain, and she looks at me with warning.

"Marina-" I raise my hands in anger and continue to scream with frustration.

"No! You don't get to yell at me because i'm willing to take a risk that you weren't!" She looks at me with hurt, but I don't back down. "You don't get to reprimand me because you hate the mistake you made last year" I pick up my backpack for school quickly and throw it on my shoulder. I also grab a random shirt and jeans for tomorrow.

"What are you doing?" Maren asks tiredly, and I grab my phone and shove it in my pocket, ignoring her question.

"It's not my fault" Is all I say before slamming the bedroom door in her face.

Call it a rational decision, but I don't want to stay in the same room as her, even for one night. I'll probably come back tomorrow afternoon, but I think that we both need our space to think.

Briefly, I wonder where i'm supposed to go. But my thoughts quickly disappear, and I start to sprint to my destination. I'm not sure how far it is, but I know where it is, so I continue to run, my backpack bouncing against me with every step.

When I get to the building, I stop for a second to catch my breath. I look at the huge door, and wonder if I need a passcode to get inside. I bite my lip in thought, I could open the door and walk inside, but that seems wrong. So instead, I dial a number in my phone and wait impatiently for them to answer.

"Marina?" The voice says wearily, and they sound like they're about to continue but I interrupt.

"I'm outside, come open the door" I say, and hang up without waiting for a response. After a minute, I hear a slight shuffling and the door swings open. Joseph stands there with a confused but happy expression on his face, probably excited that I don't hate him, like that's even possible.

"What are you-" He starts but I interrupt him. I shoot him a hopeful smile and bite my lip again.

"Mind if I stay the night?"

 **I actually really loved writing this chapter so much, I hope it was fun to read. And this was an important chapter, because now the 'forbidden friendship' starts. And I hope you all enjoyed Marina and John's background, now you understand why John doesn't hate Marina.**

 **And clarifying, John still doesn't support them being friends, but he likes Marina as a good friend so he accepts it more than Maren for sure.**

 **Hope I didn't disappoint!**


	16. Chapter 15

**Sooo, hi guys. I know you all probably hate me for not updating in forever but i've been busy, and wasn't getting many reviews so i didn't really feel motivated.**

 **Cayla Prior: Wow. Thank you so much for your very long reviews, they really warmed my heart. You asked many different questions, and I would be very happy to answer them, if you direct message me, since you have so many. Also, thank you for following and favoriting!**

 **Onto the story!**

Marina

 _The sun drips with light as it slowly starts to descend behind the trees. Just as I look up, the wind rustles and the trees begin to shake around us. My moms lap is the comfiest place in the world, and i'm happy to find myself in it._

" _Mommy?" I whisper, and look up into her warm green eyes, ones resembling someone I know now. She looks down gently and strokes my hair with care._

" _Yes, sweetheart?" She says gently, and I find myself soothed by her voice. Smiling, I sit up and look at her seriously._

" _Why did you leave me?" I'd say accusingly and my mother would look at me in surprise. She looks at me with gentleness, but also confusion._

" _What sweetie?"_

" _You left. You and daddy gave up your life for something... and you left me. What was the something?" I say with a frown, begging her to know. For a seven year old, i'm really smart._

 _My mother smiles happily, and strokes my cheek. "The thing that we had left you for was..."_

And I wake up.

I wake up at the point every time. Ever since I had starting having that dream, which was like ten years ago, it's been awful. It wasn't even a flashback, my parents had died right after I was born, who even knows if my mother had green eyes.

I sit up in my bed anxiously and look around the room, except, it's not my bed. It's someone else's bed, and i'm not in my clothes.

I'm scared and confused for a minute before I remember how last night had played out.

After I had came to the Resistance headquarters, Joseph let me stay the night and even sleep in his bed. Not with him, he slept on the couch. And, he had lent me one of his t shirts, which is huge on me and it is absolutely freezing here, but the shirt is so big that you wouldn't even be able to tell that I have shorts on.

I slowly ease out of the bed and I look around to the other beds and see no one in the room except me. Confusion briefly crosses my mind, but I take an opportunity to look around.

The room is pretty messy, with clothes strewn in random places, but since Joseph told me that him, John and Stanley share a room, that it's bound to be pretty messy. I still haven't met this Stanley guy, since him and John we're both asleep by the time I came last night. I randomly hear the noise of water stopping, and I was so consumed with looking around that I didn't notice it was on in the first place. My eyebrows furrow in confusion until I hear the a door open from behind me and I turn with a start.

"Hey, I was wondering where you-" I don't continue because what I see shocks the hell out of me. I see a tall guy who looks like he just got out of the shower and is...

Naked.

"Oh my god! I-i'm so s-sorry I didn't mean t-to" I turn around and cover my hands over my eyes and I hear the guy grabbing a towel.

"You can turn around now" He says, his voice very low and melodious. "You know, if you wanted to see me naked all you had to do is ask" He says while smirking, but stops suddenly when he sees my face.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He shouts angrily, and I quickly realize this is Stanley, because I briefly remember seeing him at school.

"I-I, uh, I-l" I continue to stutter until I hear a door open from behind me again and I silently pray that it isn't another naked boy, or girl for that matter. John comes in through the main door, drenched in sweat and his hair a tangled mess.

"Marina? What are you doing here?" My cheeks flair up red as he and Stanley look me up and down and take in what i'm wearing.

"Yeah, I was just asking her the same thing" Stanley says, getting closer to me, but not in a flirty way, but more of a threatening way.

"Back up, Stan" John says, a warning tone in his voice. "Joseph would kill you if you touch her" He says, and I turn to him in confusion, and I see what he's doing at once.

He's trying to pretend that he doesn't know me, like we haven't spent our life being friends. I show him that I know what he's doing by rolling my eyes, and for a second, his macho act disappears and he looks sorry.

As fate would have it, Joseph walks in and looks at us all standing there in confusion. He meets my eyes in curiosity before glancing at both of the others.

"Everything going okay in here?" He says, slightly laughing, putting down a training bag on the couch. He walks over to us as Stanley rolls his eyes at him, slightly calmer than before.

"Okay, Joe. If your going to bring a girl in here-" He says, giving me a sideways look. "especially her, you need to give us a heads up or something. We don't want to listen to you guys having sex-" My eyes widen immediately and my cheeks redden so much i'm sure I look like a tomato.

"Woah, woah, woah." Joseph interrupts, looking at me with red all over his face. "We didn't sleep together. She needed somewhere to spend the night" He explains, walking over to a dresser and throwing a shirt at Stanley. "And put a shirt on, Stan"

Stanley rolls his eye and slips the shirt over his head, and heads into the bathroom to put on more clothes. When I hear the door shut, I walk over to John and slap him across the face. He looks at me in astonishment and rubs his cheek slightly.

He looks like he's about to ask why I slapped him, but I give him a slightly pointed look.

"I'm sorry, okay. I'm just trying to-" He starts, but I scoff and roll my eyes indifferently.

"What? Protect him from truth" I say accusingly. John gives me another sad look when I hear the bathroom door open and Stanley walks back in, fully clothed. I shoot a grateful look at Joseph before turning back to his bed where I left my stuff, and I start to mumble things while I put together my stuff.

"So, as much as i've enjoyed this little gathering, I should be getting back home now" Joseph shoots a small glare at John and walks over to me, putting his hand on my arm gently.

"Hey, it's okay if your not ready to go back yet, we can just out somewhere or-" He says, his voice low. I shoot him a smile and hoist my bag onto my shoulder.

"No, it's fine. Let me just change and then you can walk me home" He smiles at me, and I walk into the bathroom confidently, careful not to bump into Stanley as I pass him.

I close the door to the bathroom quickly and throw my clothes on in a rush. All I packed was some light blue jeans and a plain dark blue shirt, and I suddenly wish that I brought something nicer.

I walk out of the bathroom and find that John has left and gone somewhere else, and Stanley and Joseph are talking in hushed tones. When I enter, they both look up at me, and Stanley gives me an annoyed look.

"Ready to go now, princess?" He say, his voice filled with malice. I lower my eyes and start to mumble under my breath. I hear Joseph hit his arm and he looks at me with an apologetic look. I give him a reassuring smile and try to avoid Stanley's eyes.

"Ready?" I say, and I find my voice coming out quieter than I intended it to. After another sad look, Joseph nods and walks over to me, putting his arm around shoulders. I look to him questingly and he whispers in my ear after shooting a smile at Stanley.

"Just go with it" He whispers, and I find myself shivering when I feel his breath on my skin. He leads me out of the room, ignoring Stanley's scoffs, and leads me down a small hallway.

We both walk down the hallway in silence, not even looking at each other, and I can't figure out if it's because we're angry, or are just being awkward. The hallway starts to show light as we continue to stomp out, and windows appear on both sides of us, revealing the streets i've walked my whole life. I let out a small, and a little frustrated sigh, causing Joseph to look at me.

His eyes are filled with an emotion that I haven't ever seen on him before, and one that doesn't make me feel right. He looks angry, and frustrated. He's never been this way around me before, so I immediately turn to him fully.

"If it's something I said, then i'm sorry. I didn't mean to make Stanley mad, or anyone else" I say, tears starting to spring to my eyes, really upset at the thought of him being upset with me. "I shouldn't have come here, I just made things worse" Before my tears can fall, I turn away from him briskly and turn to storm down the hallway, but Joseph catches my arm and turns my body to his. My breath catches at our close proximity, out noses almost touching. Sensing that i'm uncomfortable, he backs up slightly, but still rubs his arms on mine.

"Hey, it's not your fault. They don't get it, okay? It seems like no one does" He says, his voice low and under his breath. He gives me a sideways smile, making himself look silly, causing me to laugh. His smile only grows when my laugh breaks away and he rubs my back quickly before we turn back to our original walking position.

We reach the door I had came in last night that leads outside, and Joseph opens it for me with a smirk, and I try to smile, but fail miserably as it drops. I hear him sigh from beside me and he runs a hand through his hair.

"Okay, what's wrong now?" He says, without anger in his voice, if anything, he looks relieved that we're out of the building, even if we are heading back to my house. His eyes suddenly widen, and his hand flies to his neck, covering up his tattoo. My eyes quickly squint in confusion, before I shake my head and reach my hand up to his neck to cover his.

He looks down at me with alarm and I slowly ease his hand away from his neck.

"It's okay. I don't mind" I say quietly, and he still doesn't look convinced. He looks back longingly at the Resistance building and looks like he wants to turn back.

"Are you sure? I can run back and grab some-" He starts but I cut him off but reaching a hand up to his cheek and brush it slightly with my thumb. He looks at me in surprise, and I think that see his cheeks redden slightly at the gesture.

"I. Don't. Mind." I say, slightly more forceful, and I give him a happy smile to reassure him. Even if he doesn't believe me, he gives me a smile too, and I slowly retract my hand, my cheeks starting to heat up after realizing what I just did. He doesn't say anything as we keep walking, but he gives me a look indicating that he wants me to tell him what i'm thinking about.

"It's not the tattoo. It's just-" I hesitate, trying to think of how to describe everything that's going on in my head right now. "I don't _get_ why what we're doing is so wrong. It doesn't make any sense, we're just two people who like hanging out with each other" I say, and he nods along, silently agreeing to what i'm saying.

My brain tells me I should stop with that, but something keeps me from keeping my mouth shut and I continue. "I mean, why does there have to be such a rivalry with us. We just want to be happy, and why do people have to keep taking that away from each other?" My voice starts to rise slowly, reaching a loud talking voice, but not quite yelling.

"Marina-" Joseph warns, and I see him glance at the few people walking in and around shops, minding their own business, and part of me agrees I should stop, but the other part of me powers it out.

"Like, if this messed up 'society' didn't even exist, we wouldn't even _have_ a Resistance or Neutrals" I turn to Joseph excitedly, while he only seems to grow more and more anxious. "Everyone could be happier that way. No more disagreements, and no more fighting-" My smile starts to grow as I go on with possibilities until Joseph snaps and grabs my arm, turning my body to him forcefully,

"Marina, you can't say things like that with..." He stops, looking away from my eyes and to the people around us, a few looking to us in confusion. "people around" I look down in embarrassment and close my eyes, trying to calm myself down. After a moment, i've fixed my composure, and I look up with an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry." I say, looking into his eyes anxiously, and I see his eyes soften at the sight of me being confused. "I just, needed to rant for a second" I shrug, starting to turn back forward, when he puts his hand up to my cheek and looks at me with concern.

"Are you okay?" He says, and i'm sure my cheeks are becoming redder by the second, like they always do when he looks at me like that. I nod slowly, and his hand slides away, giving me a shy smile. We both blush and continue to walk, my house now in sight and only a block away.

"So, Stanley was a pretty interesting guy." Joseph starts out of nowhere. I look at him in question, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh huh" I let the questioning sink into my voice, showing him that i'm still very lost. He looks down and chuckles at himself, still looking anxious. "And...?"

"Well I don't know, if you, you know, _like_ big strong guys like him" He says, starting to kick a rock on the ground. My eyebrows furrow in confusion and i'm about to speak when he continues. "I mean, it's totally okay if you do, its just that you've never really said anything about liking guys like that or-"

"You think I like Stanley?" I interrupt his rambling with my question and he gives me a raised eyebrow.

"Do you?" He says, and looks so serious that I feel bad when I burst out laughing. He looks at me with an insane look and I can't help but laugh harder.

"No! That is the most insane thing i've ever heard" I laugh through my words as they come out and Joseph finally starts to smile, probably because of mine. He starts to laugh with me as I throw my head back in laughter and rubs his hand through my hair.

"Calm down there, girl" He says, his bright teeth gleaming in the morning light. I bite my lip to stop the laughs from coming out and temporarily succeed. After the laughing dies down, my smile continues to shine and so does his.

After another minute or so, we arrive at my house and we slowly walk up to the front porch.

"Are you sure that your ready to come back?" Joseph says, right before my hand reaches the door handle and I turn around to look at him. "You could stay another night or-"

"No, it's okay" I interrupt, stepping away from the door so I can look at him closer. "I know where i'm obviously not wanted" I smile, to make sure he doesn't get concerned, and gives me a sad smile in return.

"Yeah, I guess your right" He replies, looking down shyly at his shoes. The act makes me smile more and grab his hand.

"It's ok. Maren and I should talk anyway..." I say, drifting off when I look to the side of his face and see an angry figure through Maren and I's bedroom window. Looking closer, I see that it's Maren with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Marina, what's going on?" Joseph says, intercepting my line of vision towards Maren. I smile at him quickly before I brush my hand over my cheek and stroke it gently. Joseph's look turns instantly to confused.

"Uhm, what are you-" He starts before I cut him off abruptly.

"Maren's watching" I say, not looking at Maren through the window, but this only causes his confusion to grow.

"Then why are you..." He drifts off, looking at me awkwardly as I get closer to him.

"I'm trying to prove to her that she doesn't control me" I whisper, my breath causing goosebumps to appear on his neck. We both smile and laugh while it happens and I take one small glance at Maren before leaning in and pecking Joseph's cheek.

I pull away slowly and give him a shy smile, pulling a strand of hair behind my ear. He smirks at me confidently, probably at my embarrassment.

"See you later" I whisper under my breath and his smile grows.

"See ya" And with another confident grin, turns on his heel and tries to step down off the porch. but trips and stumbles off clumsily. He regains his balance and manages to not fall, but still looks embarrassed as he looks back at me. He gives me a look that looks like he intends for me to tease him, but I just give a hearty laugh and smile brightly at him.

"Bye" I say, letting teasing into my voice a slight bit, and turn around while opening the door and step into the warm house. Still laughing, I turn around to see Maren standing in front of me, glaring at me with an intense sharpness.

"What?" I accuse, not letting my smile drop. Maren gives me an incredulous look and her eyes glare so furiously that I almost recoil in fear.

" _What?_ What do you mean _what?_ You just stormed out of the house last night! And now I realize your hanging out with that boy again!" She whisper-yells, probably cautious of her parents hearing. Instead of recoiling, I cross my arms and glare at her in return.

"You know his name" I accuse, and she only rolls her eyes, annoyed.

"That's not the point! I told you to stay away from him" She replies, and I also roll my eyes, storming past her to out room.

"And I decided to not listen" I retort, and I hear her shut the door quietly behind us as she follows me.

"Marina, he's bad news-"

"We're not having this conversation again" I say angrily, finally turning to look at her. She looks at me too and when her eyes land on me, they aren't angry anymore, but sad.

"I don't want you to get hurt, Mar. I'm only being like this because I care about you" She says softly, her voice much lower than before. I sigh and feel my eyes soften as I walk over to her and take her hands in mine.

"I know, and I love you for that" I say, and she smiles at me gratefully as I let my fight go out. I really don't want to fight with Maren anymore, I want things to go back to how they were, or as close as they can get. But nonetheless, I slide my hands back out of hers and give her an apologetic look.

"But i'm not staying away from Joseph" And with that sentence, I turn away from her and look down at my air mattress.

And I could've been wrong, but I think I hear the faint sound of her sniffling behind me when I do so.

 **Hope you all enjoyed! Sorry again that I haven't updated recently, but i've just been busy. And I know there's only one POV this chapter, it just got long and I didn't do a second cause I wanted to get this one out :)**

 **See ya!**


	17. Chapter 16

**Hey! Here's your update! Honestly I don't know what else to say to you guys let's just answer reviews!**

 **Answer Reviews:**

 **Cayla Prior: I totally know what you mean when you continue imagining the story, I do it all the time, and don't worry, your 'John and Marina argument' thing is definitely on its way, Marina just didn't feel like fighting with anyone since she had already had fought with Maren the night before, last chapter was simply a filler chapter. Also to answer one of your previous questions, the guy at the smoothie shop wasn't prince zach, but he's definitely making an appearance soon ;)**

 **Onto the story!**

Maren

"What do you think of this color?" I roll my eyes in frustration as I look to the curious girl in the mirror, striking multiple poses while holding a shirt up in front of her. Marina looks at the mirror in annoyance and huffs multiple times.

"I think it looks fine." I reply honestly, but she turns her head to give me a pointed look.

"Really? I think it kinda washes me out." She says putting the orange shirt down, and looks curiously at the rack next to her. "Maybe pink would look better" She decides, grabbing the same shirt off the rack in a light shade of pink.

"Marina, nothing washes you out, your the tannest girl in the world" I roll my eyes when she turns back with a shy smile and tucks a small strand of hair behind her ear.

"You think?" She wonders, turning to the mirror again with a slight more confidence. I nod, my eyes wide in frustration still, and she walks into her changing room and shuts the door in approval.

Marina dragged me to the mall to go shopping for our school prom, even if it's still about a month away. She claimed that it's a good way for us to bond again, but all she's really been doing is looking at shirts that she doesn't even want to buy, just to distract her.

Things have still been kinda weird between us I guess you could say, mostly because to my obvious dismay, she keeps seeing Joseph.

Joseph. For some pretty obvious reasons, I don't like him all that much, and neither should Marina. He made her lie to me about his... lifestyle, and she didn't even decide to tell me that Joseph knew John. But I quickly brush that last thought out of my mind as it automatically gives me shivers all over my body. I'm about to ask what's taking Marina so long to change until I hear my phone vibrate in my pocket. I groan as I yank it out but my heart stops when I see who it is.

The familiar name shines on the screen and I stare at it in fear. To my dismay, my hand starts to shake so badly that the phone almost slips out of my hand, causing my thumb to accidentally hit the answer button.

"Maren? God, you actually answered" A familiar husky voice comes out the other end, causing me to get goosebumps appearing on my skin. "Maren are you going to talk to me?"

"You shouldn't have called me. I'm with a friend" I say, forcing my voice to come out confidently, but still whispering so Marina doesn't overhear me. I hear a low laugh before he snorts and talks back loudly, the words dripping with sarcasm.

"What? Does she now know that you-"

"No, she doesn't! So keep your damn voice down!" I whisper shout at him and I hear him sigh heavily. "And I told you to never call me again, you idiot"

His voice makes a soft purr that i've heard almost hundreds of times and still haven't learned to like. "I can't stay away from you..." His voice drags slowly on the other line, and I sigh in frustration.

"Well, learn to do it, you bastard. _Never_ call me again." My voice is as hard as steel when I find it and I shut the off button before he gets a chance to respond. Luckily, it's right before Marina appears out of her changing room and looks at me with interest.

"Who was that?" She says, her voice full fake suspicion. "Was that a boy?" She says, her voice heavy with teasing, and I allow myself to let out a shaky laugh.

"Yeah, it actually was. It was some guy that I met a while ago" I retort confidently, trying to give her the most truth I can, without really telling her what's going on. Her eyes widen in surprise and she steps out behind to door to look at me fully, the pink shirt she chose looking fantastic on her.

"Can I get a name?" She wonders and I give her a tired look.

"Do you really need one?" I ask, trying to talk her out of it. She looks at me with a happy smile and punches me in the arm lightly.

"Of course I do, I need to make couple names" She says, as if it were an obvious fact. She seems to be really happy about this development, and i'm thinking that it's because it takes the focus off our constant arguments about Joseph.

"Fine. His name is Blake, happy?" I say, looking away and my eyes wandering to the window, seeing it's practically dark outside. I hear Marina squeal in front of me and I turn my head to her in annoyance.

"Maren and Blake! Blake... Maren... Blaren!" She says in excitement and starts laughing, I give her tired look, pretending that the reason i'm upset is that she's making a big deal out of this. Even thought the real reason is that there is a Blake entirely.

After glancing outside and checking my phone to see that it's 9:05 I look to Marina with happiness.

"The mall will close in about 25 minutes and it's dark outside, can we leave now?" I say hopefully, and Marina looks at me sadly.

"I guess..." She says solemnly, "We never even got to look at prom dresses!" She complains, but I only look at her incredulously.

"That's because you went into every store you saw" I retort, and she pouts at me. "We can come, again soon don't worry" I continue tiredly and she seems slightly happier.

"Okay, let me just change" She says and walks back into the dressing room quickly. And even behind the door I can hear her mumble about how i'm no fun, but the words only make me smile.

We walk through the parking lot while laughing about a guy who asked Marina out right after we left the store. We reach my car when I speak up again, laughing through my words.

"He was so awkward that I felt kinda bad" I say, causing Marina to burst out laughing again, so hard that her face starts to brighten up red.

"Maren!" She says, her voice still high in exasperation. We both laugh and I look at her curiously while she continues to chuckle.

"Maybe you should have said yes, he looked cute enough" I say, still chuckling. Marina gives me a small smile, but her face seems to have changed to slightly more serious.

"You know why I said no, Maren" She whispers, her voice so quiet that I barely catch what she says. My smile automatically drops and I look down sadly. We both slide into the car in silence, and I start to pull out of the parking lot while Marina looks at her phone, her face still sad. I open my mouth to protest that it was supposed to just be a joke, but I close it in regret, deciding that it's probably time to have this conversation.

"I know, it's just that you told me you didn't have romantic feelings for Joseph" I say slowly, trying to put my words delicately. She looks up when I say his name and she looks at me with one of her eyebrows raised delicately.

"You really believed me?" She says softly, and the words take the breath out of me. Even though I expected this to happen, I never really thought that it would. Marina really does like Joseph, and I was completely denying it this entire time. Suddenly I find it really hard to breathe and my words come out in gasps.

"Do you, are you-" I begin but she cuts me off, understanding what I mean already.

"I don't know, Maren" She says, rubbing her forehead in frustration. I take in her weary face and realize that I haven't noticed the bags under her eyes, probably from her many nights up talking to Joseph the whole time. I bite my lip in thought until Marina speaks up again.

"Why do you even care? I thought you didn't care about Joseph or anything to do with the Resis-"

"I get it" I interrupt her, not wanting to hear that awful word anymore. "I just, want to know what's going on with you" I reply calmly, trying to diffuse her apparent anger. She seems to calm down slightly but rolls her eyes in annoyance.

"Like you care. All you want is to scare away Joseph away, that's all you seem to want" She retorts, and I look down at the wheel and shut my eyes tightly, trying to stay calm so this doesn't turn into another screaming match.

"Marina, I was just asking. That's all" I open my eyes gently to see her staring at me, as if deciding on whether or not to fight with me. After a minute, she decides not to and turns back to her phone, giving me a look that it's supposed to end the conversation, but I decide to go against her look.

"Guess what I picked up when you were on one of your try-on sprees?" I say, my voice full of hope and excitement. Marina looks over at me in curiosity and raises an eyebrow quickly.

"What?" She says, and I can tell that she is trying her best to keep the hostility of her voice. I reach down to my side and pull out a box from the bag next to my seat.

When Marina's eyes land on them, her eyes give me a tired but happy and excited look.

"You didn't" She says, a light warning tone in her voice, and the words bring a sneaky grin to my face.

"Oh, but I did" I tease, and I pull the box out and hold it in the air, waving it in the air excitedly.

"Doughnuts!" I yell, putting down the box in my laugh to reach out and tickle Marina with one hand. She starts to giggle happily and has one of the happiest smiles i've ever seen her have, caused by me at least, in quite a long time

John

"Really? You bought that?" Stanley asks incredulously. I roll my eyes but continue to look at him happily.

"Yes, I bought a coffee maker, Stan" I reply, giving him a pointed look. "Why is that such a problem?"

"We don't need a coffee maker, bro. We don't even have room for it" He retorts, running the box over in his hands, studying it carefully. He analyzes it in his hands for a few more moments before setting it down in annoyance.

"I still don't get why you bought it" He continues, crossing his arms over his chest. I'm about to give him a snarky comeback when Joseph makes his way into the room slowly, as if he's strolling down a park.

"Hey guys" He says cheerfully, looking down at the coffee maker with curiosity. "What's with that thing?" He wonders, studying it like Stanley did, only with a much happier expression.

"Well, I bought it because you can't seem to stay awake during training anymore" I say, slinging an arm around Joseph's shoulders cheerfully and he gives me a sarcastic look and is about to reply before I continue. "And I don't think we should pretend that we all don't know what that's about"

Joseph looks down at the floor shyly, while Stanley looks at me with surprise.

"So now your encouraging him?" He asks, anger apparent in his voice. Joseph rolls his eyes and shrugs away from my arm.

"Do we have to have this conversation again-" He begins, before I interrupt him by patting him on the back.

"Of course not. This is a completely different one. We understand that you care about Mar- this girl every much, do we've decided to support you" I say, catching myself quickly on the face of acknowledging I know Marina. Joseph and Stanley both turn to me in surprise, and Stanley seems to burst with anger.

"No we haven't! I haven't agreed to any of this!" He yells, before turning to Joseph while pointing a finger at him. "And you, you're going to stay away from her" He says pointedly, and gives me one last angry glance before storming out of our dorm.

I sigh in frustration and run a hand through my ragged hair. Joseph watches sadly as Stanley storms out and my smile drops slightly seeing him upset.

"Hey, don't let Stan get you down. You know he's just being stubborn" I encourage, rubbing his back softly and he turns to me with a grim smile.

"How did you change your mind about Marina?" He asks curiously, and my eyebrows raise at his question.

"I... realized how much you really liked her" I lie, but it seems to be enough to reassure him because he smiles at me happily.

"Thanks for believing in me, John" He says, and my heart pangs a small bit lying to him. I look away from him as I nod, trying to keep up my encouraging act.

I turn to him with a conflicted look on my face. "I better go find Stanley, try and calm him down a little" I finally say, Joseph nods sadly as I rush out of the room and shut the door behind me in relief.

With my shame, I walk down the hallway slowly, hating myself for lying to Joseph so much. If he ever finds out what i'm trying to do... no, he'd never forgive me. Ever. But I guess that's why he can never find out, because it would make him hate me forever. So would Marina, she'd hate me more than she probably already does.

I mentally hit myself for letting myself get wrapped into this mess, and for getting myself into it by caring about damn Maren so much. This would be a whole lot easier if I just didn't care about her anymore like i'm supposed to. I run another hand through my tangled hair as I turn a sharp corner as I watch out the windows lining the hallway. Until I hit something hard and stumble back in surprise.

"Ow!" I hear a girls voice ring out in the hallway and I look up in surprise to see who it is, and let's just say that i'm shocked by the result.

In front of me stand a gorgeous blond girl, one with stunningly beautiful blue eyes, almost similar to mine. She looks up and sees me studying her and a light smile appears on her face.

"Like what you see, huh?" She asks, and her voice sends shivers up my spine. It's smooth and melodious, kinda like Maren's, but I shake my head at the thought. She looks at me in confusion and raises her eyebrows teasingly.

"You don't?" She asks and it causes me to quickly shake my head in surprise, making her laugh a bright laugh. The sound causes me to blush, but she only acknowledges it with an endearing smile.

"I-i'm sorry that I ran into y-you" I stutter, and I mentally hit myself for sounding so nervous. I've never been the awkward type around girls, but something about this girl seems to make me really nervous.

She smiles again, and I notice that she really does do that a lot, but I don't mind. She really has a beautiful smile. "It's alright, I should've been looking where I was going." She reasons and shines yet another smile, and I smile back at her.

I nervously run a hand through my hair, and silently wish that I had taken a shower this morning, considering it's a tangled mess. She seems to notice my embarrassment and laugh good heartedly.

"Don't worry" She whispers to me quietly, "You look fine" I shake my head at myself as we both laugh and I look down at the floor to hide the blush on my cheeks.

"So, are you new around here or something?" I wonder, and she stops her laughter so she can answer my question.

"Yeah, I just joined the Resistance last week actually. I like it so far, the boys seem to be pretty endearing" She teases slightly and I give her a sarcastic look.

"I'm usually not this 'endearing'" I quote her and she laughs good heartedly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Well that's nice to know" She says, and something about her voice when she says it makes goosebumps appear on my skin. I cross my arms quickly to try and hide them and she laughs, noticing what i'm doing.

"So..." She wonders curiously, slightly studying me up and down. "Can i have your name?"

I swallow nervously again and blush as I respond. "John" She nods happily and bites her lip slightly, finishing her 'evaluation' of me.

"Well John, it's very nice to meet you. I'm Sarah" She responds and I light smile makes its way onto my face,

"Nice name" Is the only thing I come up with to say next and she smiles at me cheerfully, and chuckling lightly at my nervousness, while another blush pops it's way up onto my face.

"Thank you" She replies, tucking more hair behind ear. I look at her again gently, and i realize what's making me so nervous. It's just that she seems so exciting, and somehow safe at the same time. She's just so... comfortable to be around that it makes me kinda scared... in a good way.

I look behind her for a moment to see Stanley looking at me with a smirk on his face, his angry mood very forgotten. My eyebrows raise in surprise as he gives me a thumbs up, and Sarah turns her head back curiously to see what i'm looking at. In a split second, he drops his hands and looks around him pretending to whistle, making an obvious display to what he was doing.

Sarah turns back to me, her ever present smile still resting on her face. "Your friend, I take it?" She asks and I nod my head sadly.

"Unfortunately, and I actually have to go talk to him" I say regretfully and she nods solemnly and gives me smother shining smile.

"I'll see you around, John. It was super nice meeting you" She says endearingly, before walking past me and out of my sight.

I stand there for another few seconds before I recover and look at Stanley with exaggerated anger.

"Come on dude!" I yell at him across the hallway and he smiles at me with a snarky look.

"Yeah, cause you were _totally_ handling it just fine" He teases, walking up closer to me and slinging an arm around my shoulder.

"I was!" I retort seriously and he shakes his head with mock sadness.

"No you weren't" He says, and we continue to argue for another second before we stop suddenly.

And I swear I can hear Sarah's laughter up ahead of us in the hallway.

 **So... Sarah is here! Some of you may like that, most of you probably won't. But don't worry, this is a Jix story.**

 **Also, what's John lying to Joseph about? It's pretty important but it won't be revealed until much farther into the story.**

 **Hope you all enjoyed and don't forget to leave a review!**


	18. Chapter 17

Hey y'all! How's your day been? Hopefully good. That's great...this chapter TOTALLY won't change your great day...

Anyway! Let's answer some reviews!

— Johns secret does not involve coming between Marina and Joseph, that's all i'm going to say!

—Sam won't come for still quite a while

—Prince Zach and Setrakus Ra come in very soon

— I can't tell you who Blake is yet, he's the start of Maren's "secret"

— This chapter represents the start of a new section I guess you could call it, there's going to be a new "big thing" about to happen that will affect all of the characters and change some relationships, if that makes any sense.

Now, Onto the story!

Marina

"No way! You're kidding!"

"I swear it happened! I slipped and fell right on my face!"

I chuckle happily as he retells the story, looking so excited and embarrassed that it's endearing.

"You were in gym class, and you just tripped right in front of the coach?" I ask, still not able to calm the laughter in my voice. Joseph looks down sheepishly at his frozen yogurt bowl, twirling the spoon around unconsciously.

"Yeah... I got nervous. I thought I was going to mess up" He mumbles, still not meeting my eyes. I burst out laughing again and am embarrassed smile takes place on his face.

"Quit laughing at me. I bet you didn't do that well on the mile run either" He complains, finally looking up at me. I smile at him triumphantly and raise my eyebrows teasingly.

"Really? Want to bet?" I say confidently, and he looks at the smile on my face, thinking it over. After a minute, he sighs and looks back down to take another bite of his chocolate frozen yogurt.

"You did great, didn't you?" He says under his breath, causing me to smile again, while taking a bite of my ice cream.

"Yup. Six minutes and thirty two seconds" I say praisingly, while Joseph looks up, alarmed.

"Are you like a superhero?" He asks incredulously, but a smile starts to naturally make its way onto his face.

I let out a surprised laugh but look at him confidently. "I don't know, maybe I am" I tease, and he looks at me with a sarcastic look, but laughs anyway.

Our conversation seems to drift off a small amount while we both just seem to look at each other, which has become pretty often lately, not that i'm complaining.

I admitted to Maren last week that I do actually think I have romantic feelings for Joseph. I'm not really sure how I realized it, I guess that I just realized that I feel different around him than a I do around other guys, not that I really talk to any other guys.

I look away from Joseph's gaze shyly when I realize that i've been staring at him for probably way too long, but Joseph seems to not care and just smiles at my sheepishness.

"So" He begins, throwing his frozen yogurt into the trash can next to our table. "How did you get out this time?"

I sigh in exhaustion, thinking to Maren and I's argument this morning, when she had caught me trying to sneak out through our balcony. She had yelled as always, telling me what a big mistake i'm making every time I talk to Joseph.

"I didn't. I stormed out" I say sadly, and I see his smile fall slightly. He knows that I don't like that Maren and I are fighting all the time now, that I don't like fighting with anyone at all really.

"Hey, she'll come around" He encourages, reaching across the table to take my hand in his. I try to give him a smile but I can feel that it comes out weak, his smile seems to be enough for both of us though.

"How about you?" I ask, wondering how things have been going with him and Stanley and John. "How's everything with the boys?"

A confused look makes its way across Joseph's face as he takes his hand back slowly, sensing that my bad mood is gone.

"Kinda weird" He starts, still looking a little confuse as if he's thinking over s memory that doesn't make sense. "Stanley still isn't my biggest fan right now, but John's acting...different" He says, and I raise my eyebrows in confusion.

"Different how?" I wonder out loud, and he shrugs in confusion. I figured that John would be the one to hate it the most, considering his history with Maren.

"Well, he bought me a coffee machine, and he says he did it since we're always up talking at night and since i'm so tired during the day because of it" He says, and I get confused even further.

"That's weird. I wonder why-" I begin before i'm cut off by the sharp noise of my phone ringing. I do a small jump in surprise and Joseph chuckles at me. I give him s playful glare before reaching into my bag to fish out my phone. After a second of searching, I pull it out and hold it up to my ear gently.

"Hello?" I ask, and I think I can hear the quiet sound of voices murmuring on the other end. "Hello?" I repeat myself when I don't hear a response, and am about to hang up until hear a voice chirp up on the other line.

"Marina! You need to get home right away!" I hear Maren say, but something about her voice doesn't seem angry, it seems excited.

"Maren, if this is about me being with Joseph right now-" I begin, looking at him with unease, but he only looks at me cheerfully, as always, and it brings a light smile to my face.

"No! I mean, it's not about that. The Rulers are meeting here today and they request an audience with you" She squeaks cheerfully, excitement still very obvious in her voice. A strange fear races through me quickly and with so much power that I feel slightly lightheaded. Joseph looks at me with concern and I try to give him a smile, as I turn my back to him in my chair and whisper to Maren harshly.

"If you told them about Joseph, Maren, I swear-" My voice comes out so harsh and hard that I hear Maren hesitate before interrupting me once more.

"It's not about that, Marina" She says gently, letting out a quiet sigh, and I feel all energy flow back into me in relief. "Where are you? I can come pick you up" She says, her voice anxious. I look at Joseph in disappointment, upset that us hanging out will have to be cut short.

"Do I really have to right now?" I ask sadly, knowing what her answer will be.

"You know that it's not good to keep them waiting, Mar. They're already impatient" She says hurriedly, and I hear the sound of jingling keys in the background. "Just give me the address please"

I tell her in disappointment and turn back to Joseph fully, who's looking at me in confusion.

"I need to go, the Rulers are requesting a meeting with me" I say quietly, making sure no one over hears me. His eyebrows shoot up in surprise and I see his face pale slightly. He opens his mouth to say something, probably to freak out, but I quickly grab his hand peacefully and look at him earnestly.

"Maren didn't tell the, anything about you, she just said they were interested in me" I reason, standing up and pulling him up with me. He seems to visibly relax and i let go of his hand, careful not to make it seem weird.

"Any reason why?" He wonders, joining my side as we walk to the curb to wait for Maren.

"She didn't tell me" I say, but i'm not really paying attention to him anymore, i'm looking skeins for Maren's red car, since she should be close because this place is only about five minutes from our house.

And like I predicted, I see Maren's car turn the corner and starts coming towards us slowly. I hear Joseph softly groan beside me and I have to stifle a giggle that's trying to fight its way out.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine" I reassure him, rubbing his back softly. He still has doubt in his eyes but tries to plaster on an encouraging smile. Just then, Maren's car pulls up in front of us, and she rolls down her window impatiently.

Before she has a chance to say anything to Joseph, I try to plaster on an excited smile and I giver her a small wave.

"Hey Maren!" I try to say, but my voice seems to come out as a small squeak instead. This causes Joseph to try and fight off a grin and I can tell Maren also wants to smile. But unfortunately, she quickly drops the look and glares at Joseph.

"Joseph" She says to him, anything but happiness in her voice. I roll my eyes at her anger, but Joseph seems to just smile and turn to her happily.

"Nice to see you, Maren" He says, winking at her, which causes me to burst out laughing. I look at him with disbelief but still continue to smile and he laughs with me. Maren's cheeks flare up a bright glare and she looks down at her steering wheel, trying to avoid our eyes.

"Just get in the car" She murmurs under her breath, anger still very present in her voice. I try to drop my smile quickly, and fail, but I look at Joseph quickly before walking around the car to the passenger side.

I put my hand on the handle until suddenly Maren speaks up again. "You can't sit there Marina. I have things in the front seat." She claims, glancing at me only once before staring down Joseph again. I raise my eyebrows in question as I peek my eyes through the car window to see nothing inside.

I huff out angrily, but I decide against making a scene, and open the door to the backseat of the car. As soon as the door shuts, Maren quickly speeds away from the frozen yogurt shop, leaving Joseph in the dust.

After peeking one last look at Joseph, I turn my front to Maren and look at her in annoyance.

"Stuff in the front seat? I'm not a child Maren" I say, trying to keep all hostile out of my voice, it letting a small amount slip into my tone. She looks at me with something that almost looks like sincere regret, but the words that come out of her mouth completely contradict it.

"Well, stop acting like one then" She says simply, as if it was already an obvious fact. I look at her in confusion and open my mouth and close it a few times before finally finding what I want to say.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask her incredulously, and I hear her sigh and look in her side view mirror before making a turn.

"It means that ever since you've started hanging out with Joseph, you've been so much more immature and unfocused and-"

"Happy?" I put in, looking at her in frustration. "When will you understand that my hanging out with him isn't your problem?"

"When you realize that it is" She begins reasonably, her voice starting to raise, but still sounding happy and encouraging. "I'm your best friend Marina-" She begins helpfully before I scoff in annoyance.

"Oh really? You haven't been acting like it lately" I retort unhappily, before my mind dawns on our phone call earlier, and her urgent reasoning why I had to come home to meet with...the Rulers. I gasp without meaning to and look at Maren in confusion, dropping my whole angry act.

"Why do the Rulers want to see me? Did I do something wrong? Do I look okay right now, or should I sneak the back and change?" I ramble on questions to her but she only rolls her eyes, despite her earlier act of trying to keep the peace.

"You look great as usual, and i'm not allowed to say why they want to say you" She tells me calmly, but seems to have a weird tinge of emotion in her voice that I heard earlier, that sounds almost like excitement.

I huff out anxiously as we pull into our driveway and check the mirror on the side of the car quickly to make sure my hair isn't messed up from the wind. After looking myself over, I take one last deep breath before stepping out of the car confidently. I notice that there aren't very many cars in the driveway, and I assume it's because there's one huge limo in the middle of it.

I gasp at its size as I run over it with large, curious eyes. Normally i'm not a car kind of girl, but it's truly one of the most beautiful cars i've ever seen. It's so shiny and slick that I feel an urge to reach out and touch it and run my hands over the material, but i stop myself, realizing that the Rulers probably wouldn't find that very respectable. Maren turns around and sees me looking at car in awe, and smiles slightly while gesturing me to follow her inside.

I straighten myself one last time before taking a deep breath and gently turning the doors handle and push it open. Immediately, I feel a blast of cold air hit me and goosebumps appear on my skin involuntarily. After my eyes adjust, I look to see about twenty or so officials in front of me, all looking at me with increased curiosity. I shift uncomfortably and fumble around in my mind for something to say, and my brain quickly thinks I should greet them, so I grab ahold of the words before I can forget.

"H-Hello, thank you for being generous enough to meet with me" I squeak, slightly stuttering and a blush appears on my cheeks. "Mr and Mrs. Rulers" I say, without thinking through my, words. The room drops quiet and I can suddenly feel everyone's eyes on me. And I start to think that i've offended them somehow until a woman on my right bursts out laughing, the rest of the room following her.

I turn my head slightly to see that it was Maren's mother, Katerina, who had started the laughter. She sees me looking at her and gives me a reassuring smile, as if to tell me i'm not in trouble. I smile sheepishly and look around the room to take in my surroundings.

Everyone here is dressed in all black business clothing, even Maren, making me stick out like a sore thumb in my bright blue shirt and jeans. Maren seems to sense my uncomfortableness, and squeezes my arm reassuringly. The laughter in the room seems to die down slowly and most of the Rulers looks at me again, this time with much more excited looks. Slowly, I fix a confident smile onto my face at one of the officials that I recognize to be Catherine Prior, the Kings second in command, and she raises an eyebrow at me slightly, and turns to whisper something to the guy behind her quickly, before turning back to me.

"Marina Reyes, it is so very nice to meet you" She greets politely, and I nod in agreement, figuring that she isn't finished talking. "We're very sorry that we had to grab you from your meeting with a friend of yours" She finishes triumphantly, and I shyly tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.

"It's alright, it wasn't anything important" I say gently, and as smoothly as I can, but something twists in my stomach when I think of Joseph being something 'unimportant', and I weirdly think that somehow I must have just lied. Catherine gives me a peaceful smile and then gestures to the chair next to me.

"Go ahead and sit, we have a very important matter to discuss." She says simply, but I can hear the urgency behind her words, like she seems nervous or anxious. Doing as she said, I slowly take a seat in the leather chair to my right, shooting a nervous glance at Maren, but she only smiles reassuringly. Catherine starts to speak again, which automatically snaps my attention to her.

"First Marina, we were hoping that we could start with some simple questions." She starts, and I'm sure that I make a nervous face, because she smile slightly and leans over to pat my arm reassuringly. "Don't worry, it's not an interrogation" She continues, but that doesn't really make me feel any better or less nervous about it.

"Well, let's begin. Whats your full name?"

I can feel myself start to sweat, and I feel everyone else's eyes drilling into me slowly. "Marina Cordelia Reyes" I say smoothly, trying to keep my composure smooth. Catherine smiles at me and writes something down on her clipboard that I didn't realize she was holding.

"Yes. Now, how old are you, and what grade are you in for school?" She asks gently, looking at me encouragingly, but I can tell that her tone of voice isn't one I should trust.

"I'm 17, and I just started my senior year" She nods her head once more and I see a slight a slight smile quirk onto her face. I looks around the room at the other worn out faces of the Rulers, finding myself infatuated with the elderly looks of them, even though most of them couldn't be over forty years old.

Catherine continues to ask me more questions, mostly things about my hobbies and what sports i've ever played, but some questions seem to dig deeper after a while. I can practically feel the teary eyes in the room as I tell the story of my parents death, careful to not mention that they were Resistance members, and telling a small white lie that they were civilians trying to save some children from a burning house.

Katerina had me make up that story ever since I was very young, and i've told it so many times that i've almost started believing it myself. She of course knows the real story, how they were rebel spies sent into the Capital building to kill Setrakus, only to fail and be murdured by his guards in front of all of Lorien, making sure everyone knew the cost of resisting his decisions. The Elizabeth's are the only ones who know the truth, other than me of course, but they definitely like keeping it that way.

After a few minutes of Catherine recording things on her clipboard, she leans back and crosses her arms elegantly over her legs, looking at me with one of those looks that are supposed to make the other person feel like they did something terribly wrong, but she smiles anyway. In fact, she starts to giggle in excitement, and my eyebrows automatically raise in confusion, worried that she's lost her mind. I look around the room, thinking that I must have missed something, but everyone else is looking at me with proud looks as well.

"Marina," A small man says as he steps out next to Catherine, and I have to fight the urge to laugh at his size, because me can't be more than four feet tall, despite looking like he's at least fifty years old. But my inside laughter is quickly wiped away as he continues to speak. "Congratulations, you have been selected as a finalist in the kings secret competition!" He finishes with obvious excitement.

Immediately, I look at him in confusion and raise my eyebrows gently. "Excuse me, i'm not sure I quite understand what you mean" I say softly, trying to phrase it as politely as possible.

He looks at me like i'm an innocent puppy, free from all knowledge and shakes his head happily, "Now, you'll have to compete against the other girls of course, but your an easy shoe in, your so sweat and innocent, the public will just-"

"I'm sorry, compete in what?" I say, and I see Maren glare at me out of the corner of my eye, probably for interrupting someone of such worth, but he only crinkles his eyebrows, like he thinks the answer is obvious.

"The competition to be the future king, Prince Zach's wife of course!" He yells excitedly, erupting cheers from the rest of the room. I start to cough in surprise, and find myself thinking s million different things at once, trying to figure out what Maren just walked me into.

"What?!" I say incredulously, and everyone turns their head to me, shocked by my tone, and I quickly try to backtrack. "I mean, this is so crazy, i'm only seventeen-" I begin but Catherine looks at me happily.

"So are the other girls! Marriage in the royal family is often done young..." She begins to ramble on about traditions and when I would be coming to my training and multiple other things that I can't seem to comprehend.

I rub my head, finding myself to feel dizzy with all this new knowledge. They want to make me the queen? This is absolutely insane- do I even want to be queen? No, of course I don't want to, it's such a crazy thing to even think of, and sensing my hesitation, Catherine looks at me with a hesitant look on her face.

"This is all unless you have a boyfriend already, you don't, do you?" She asks, and I see Maren tense quickly, and open her mouth to answer her question.

"We already told you that she doesn't-" She begins but is cut off by Catherine raising her hand sharply.

"I know, but I think it's best if we hear it from Marina. You never know what she could not be telling you" She adds, which causes Maren to raise her eyebrows at me hopefully, and has a strange look in her eyes, as if she's daring me to tell them about the one name that ran through my mind the second that Catherine asked the question.

Joseph.

I mean, technically he's not my boyfriend, and I'm not even sure that he feels the same way about me that I feel about him. But still, being with someone else, getting married to someone else, makes me feel nauseous, like i'm going to throw up. I look at Maren in silent anger, knowing that this is exactly what she wanted, and what she had been so excited about earlier. She knew that this would put me in a tough position, and that if I said that i'm with someone, it would lead to exposing Joseph. But the thing that makes me the angriest, is that she knew I would never be able to do that.

I can feel everyone's eyes still on me with intense focus, like they're all hoping and praying that I have the answer that they want me to have, and unfortunately, I do.

"No, of course not" I answer simply, and the whole room erupts again, everyone turning to each other to talk about promotion ideas for me, and how they think the whole world will love me. But my eyes and thoughts are about something else, not only about how i'm going to have to tell Joseph this, and how he might not even want to be my friend after this, or even worse, he won't care for the reasons I do. But no, they're focused on Maren.

I'm watching her from across the room carefully, watching as she smiles softly to herself, knowing that she's won the battle we've been fighting for weeks, and she got exactly what she wanted, by setting me up in a position she knew I wouldn't be able to fight with.

She knows me too well, after all. And I hate her for it.

 **I hope you all enjoyed, even if this chapter caused some navrina problems hehehehe.**

 **And don't forget to leave a review! They always make me update faster and they overall just always make my day! XOXO**


	19. Chapter 18

**Hey everyone! I'm super sorry I haven't updated in almost two months, school has just been completely crazy, but I hope you all liked last chapter because I felt really proud of it!**

 **Btw, Prince Zach WILL be five, and it's definitely something that i'm super excited for to happen in this story because things will be taking a turn for the more serious side!**

 **Now, onto the story!**

John

I walk through the old wooden doors slowly, feeling leaves crunching beneath my feet as I enter. My steps are slow as I look around the old building through the doorway, careful to keep myself hidden. I hear voice murmuring behind me and quietly tell them to be quiet.

I look down at the tacky all black clothing that Cole made us wear on this mission and roll my eyes. Cole had sent us to an abandoned court house that used to be a meeting place for the Rulers, and he thought it was necessary that we dress in all black, which I don't understand because it's early morning and people will still be able to see us.

Nerves make me start to sway on my feet as I wait for Cole's command for us to precede forward. This is the first mission that i've been chosen to lead, and being the leader basically means that if everything goes to hell, it's on me. And of course i've been on missions before, but i'm usually backup, or someone who has to wait back in the escape van to help cue people, so you can understand how scary it must be for me to so front and center.

My thoughts are snapped off when I hear a murmur come from the hallway to my right, followed by the sound of footsteps. I quickly dive to the floor behind a desk, and motion for the five people behind me the follow. We all slowly start to crawl, and stop when we reach the place where the main judge must've used to sit, because it's ten times bigger than every other chair.

The footsteps continue to follow us, but at a faster pace, and I can feel my pulse speed up as I duck under the desk quickly. The other agents slide in next to me silently, seeming much more at ease than I am.

Finally, the footsteps reach us and a flashlight beam shines on the wall across from us, despite it being mid morning already. I figure out then that police officers must just be stopping by to do a daily check in, and my heart rate finally can decrease. The footsteps seem to finally become quieter, and I peak my head out to see that the officers are making there way to the other branch of the building, and that we probably won't see them come back to this wing.

After i'm sure that they're gone, I pull myself off of the ground and sigh i'm great relief. I bend over to help some of the other agents stand up, and look around one last time, before stepping into the room we've been looking for.

Setrakus Ra's old office.

This place is dirtier than I would've thought, considering this guy is royalty.

To be fair, it is his old office, but I still would've thought that people would've kept it in better shape.

The whole place is covered with leaves, ones of color, and dead ones that could've been in here for a year. All of the bookshelves that used to hold important documents, are completely empty, and have layers of spiderwebs covering them, filled with dust and disgusting things that got caught in them. The ground is practically non-existent, there's so many different broken pieces of old furniture covering it that you can't even see where the rubble stops and the ground begins.

And the smell.

The smell is the part that I can't bear. You can hear the running of rats under us as we speak, and i'm sure that that can give you a clue of what we're smelling right now. The stench of mothballs fills the air, so much that I have to resist the urge to cover my nose.

But none of this dims our curiosity to see what's here, or rather, what used to be here. My agents and I enter the room one by one, and I hear the noises of disgust as each one enters.

I walk over to the rosewood desk quickly, curious to see what could be inside, but i'm disappointed to see that all the remainders of old work are gone. I open every drawer in frustration, to see that they've all been emptied of everything that ever used to be here at the same time as Setrakus.

"What do you want to do, John?" I hear a voice say from behind me, and see one of the newest members of the Resistance, Griffin. And after he says something i can see that he regrets it, he didn't want to have to be the first one to ask me for orders. No one did, i'm guessing, and that's based off the looks every other agent is giving me.

I sigh unhappily, disappointed in the failure of the mission. "Well, i'm not quite sure where Cole would want us to go from here," I start, running a hand through my dusty hair, probably dirty from ducking under the old doorways.

"Maybe we could-" I hear someone begin, but they never get to finish their sentence, when a gunshot is fired in the distance, piercing a hole in the wall directly to my right. Shrieks fill the air as I yank down the agents closest to me.

"Everyone down!" I yell, and everyone follows my orders directly. Rushes of fear race through me at a rate so intense that it makes me light headed. Quietly, I hear people trying to hush their cries, and I turn to my left to see a small girl sobbing silently. Maggie, I think her name is. I reach over to her and rub her arm gently.

"I'll get you out of here" I whisper hoarsely, she turns to look at me with tear stained blue eyes, and nods mutely. Again, another gunshot is fired, and my attention snaps forward again, looking to make sure no one is hurt. When I realize that everyone is okay, I stand up.

I immediately hear anxious shouts of people telling me to sit down, but I ignore them as I y am Griffin to his feet.

"You're going to help me break down this wall" I try to keep my voice strong, but I think that Griffin could see the terror in my eyes. Regardless, he nods and starts to pick up he rotting desk I examined earlier. His bravery almost brings a ghost of a smile to my face, and I pick up the other end.

"On three" I start, and Griffin nods at me, and I can see all other agents faces tighten in fear around me.

"One" I hear another gunshot get fired in the distance.

"Two" I'm starting to hear the faint sound of footsteps return again.

"Three" I hear the faint whisper of someone using a cell phone to call Cole and alert him of the situation.

The words "Code Red" are the last things that I hear before I slam the desk into the rotting wall with as much force as I can handle.

The door splinters greatly, and starts to cave in. So much that I see slivers of light peaking through the dark wall. I nod to Griffin, indicating him to do the same motion again. Quickly, we ram the desk into the peeling wall.

And it completely collapses.

As the wall falls down, I hear cheers of success surround me. But the success is short lived when we hear another gunshot. But this time, someone goes down.

I hear a grunt of pain from behind me, and see that the one who was hit was Griffin. I run to him as quick as possible, as he holds his stomach to keep blood inside of him. But I move his hand gently, and with the slightest movement, I see that the wound is too deep for recovery. I choke back a sob silently as I wrap his arm around my shoulders to lift him out.

"Everyone go!" I shout hoarsely, as I try to keep my voice from cracking. My agents don't need to think twice as they poor quickly out of the room and into the outside. They all turn to the right, and I figure out that Cole must've given them that direction when they called him. I follow them at a slower pace as I drag Griffin with me.

I turn to look at him to see silent tears pouring down his face. The sight brings tears to my eyes as I try and whisper him reassuring words.

"It's ok, it's ok. We're almost there" I tell him in reassurance, but it doesn't seem to effect him, he knows what's going to happen. He knows that he's not going to make it to see another day, no other one than today.

We finally reach an area of open space, far enough from the building that I can set down Griffin and lay him in the grass gently.

"Griffin" I whisper, as I move his arm away from his stomach, and his skin is cut so deep that I can see bones all around the wound. I swallow back bile as I turn to someone next to me in frustration.

"Get something to help him!" I try to scream, but only a broken sound comes out. I turn to him to see him having a bizarre small smile on his face.

"It's alright, John. If i'm going to go," He starts, choking up as blood starts to gurgle in his mouth. I try to get him to stop talking, sure that I don't want to hear what he's going to say.

"At least I died fighting for what I believe in" He finishes, before choking again, more violently this time. And his words finally get cut off, he tries to move his face enough to grin, but the pain stops him, and as he takes his last breath, he's stuck with a look of pure happiness on his face as he looks at the sky.

And that's when I can't take it anymore. I give in to the sobbing. I sit there like an idiot, sobbing and screaming into my hands angrily. I can hear people crying around me, and the brief sound of cars pulling up. I move my head a fraction to see that it's Cole and people he brought to help.

When he reaches me, my tears seem to dry immediately and I look at him, sure that my face is twisted in pain.

"I'm sorry" I whisper, and he just nods solemnly, stepping around me to cover Griffins body as quickly as possible so no one will see it.

I choke back my feelings as quickly as I can, because I don't want to just break down in front of the whole Resistance, and I look around quickly enough to see Joseph.

Seeing him makes me feel more relieved about everything, and I take a step in his direction. But then I see that he isn't looking at me, but looking right past me, over my shoulder. I look at him in confusion as he stomps straight past me and over to the direction he was looking at. I turn in confusion, and see that he stomped straight up to a lamppost with a piece of paper stapled to it.

I walk over to him, and try to look over his shoulder to see what worked him up so quickly.

"Joe, what are you looking at?" I say as I walk next to him. He doesn't respond, but now i can see clearly what he's looking at.

A picture of Marina. But not just Marina, of two other girls on either side of her, looking elegant in beautiful dresses, but Marina is looking shyly at the camera as it snapped the picture. At first I still don't quite understand what's going on, but I then I look above the picture to see the words that change it all.

The finalists for the search of the Princes new wife.

My mouth opens voluntarily in disbelief, and I look to Joseph, expecting to see something similar to my expression, but what I see is much more intense than I'm sure my expression is. What I see on his face...

Is pure hot anger.

Marina

"Oh, Marina you look absolutely gorgeous!" Maren continues to praise me as I slowly spin around my full body mirror, looking at my new dress slowly. It's beautiful, like all of the others i've tried on, but it still seems like too much to me.

"Maybe we can try something else?" I ask her with hopefulness. She smiles peacefully and nods, but I can tell under her smile that she's annoyed with my constant denying of all the dress we got sent to us.

Tonight I have phase one of my princess training, or what I like to call, hell. I haven't even begun the competition and I already hate it. I've been trying on dresses for three hours, with a huge mob of the Prince's "royal assistants" fretting around me to get everything about me perfect, only for me to reject the entire look.

Phase one of training is when we have to dine with the prince, and the other three girls i'm competing against to be his new wife. But trust me, those girls can have this crown all they want, i'm in no way interested in being the new queen, especially since i'm only seventeen years old. And there may be a few other reasons why also...

"I hope you're not thinking about Joseph" I hear Maren pipe up behind me. I roll my eyes at her statement in a joking way, but still slightly annoyed that she knows me so well.

"How did you know?" I ask gently, trying to keep the peace remaining between us. She sighs in slight annoyance as she folds a dress over her arms.

"You get the same dreamy look on your face when your thinking about him" She states, as if it's the most obvious statement in the world. I look at the floor shyly, embarrassed that she's caught me thinking about him so often, especially recently.

Maren hasn't let me seen Jospeh in two weeks, that's when the Rulers had first told me about this new "Wife competition" development. I'm guess that it's a good thing i'm some ways, i'm not sure how i'd be able to face him after all of this.

"Hey, do you like this purple one?" Maren asks, and I turn to see her holding up a skinny lilac dress, and a small smile grows on my face. That's the kind of dress I want, it's simple and doesn't have a lot of dramatic flare to it.

"Yes!" I shriek in excitement and I take it from her quickly. I slide off the other dress as I try to pull this one on my body, and immediately im in awe.

It's the most gorgeous dress i've ever seen. It's a soft lilac, with a small band of sequins surrounding the waistband, and thin straps that wrap around my shoulders. I squeal in excitement as I examine the sides of the dress and twirl once.

"You look amazing, Mar" I hear someone say in a tense voice behind me, and the voice shocks me so much that I completely freeze. I turn around slowly, sure that's i'm not ready to see his face.

"Jospeh" I say softly, as I turn my body to him firmly. I glance around the room to see that Maren left, which must've meant that she's the one who let him in. I feel anger bubble up inside of me, she let him just so I would have to tell him about the competition, but judging the look on his face, I think that he already knows. His handsome face is curved into a frown, and for once his happy look isn't there.

"Joseph I can explain" I say calmly, stepping off of the small platform and towards him, but he backs away from me.

"When were you going to tell me?" He says, and I can tell that he's trying to keep his anger under the surface, but I can hear the frustration behind his words.

I sigh and look at him with anxiousness. "I was going to, I just didn't have the chance-"

"What? The chance to tell me your about to marry this other guy?" He interrupts me, finally letting his full anger out, and the shout scares me so much that I take a step back.

"It's not like i'm really going to marry him! I'm going to flunk the competition" I plead with him, but trying to keep my composure strong.

"Yeah, like that's going to work. Look at you, Marina! You're perfect, of course he's going to pick you!" He shouts again, and I groan in frustration.

"Why are you even getting so worked up about this?" I ask him anxiously, silent hope behind my words. He just needs to say what I want him to say, then I can drop out of this competition.

"Why?! Because I-" He looks broken as he starts the words, but he never finished the sentence because Katarina steps into the room softly.

"Marina are you- oh! I didn't know you had a visitor" She exclaims in commotion, already backing out of the room. "I can give you two some privacy" She's about to turn around when Joseph speaks up.

"No, it's alright. I was just leaving" He says softly, casting one last glance at me over his shoulder, filled with regret. No, no he can't leave me.

Not now. Not ever.

"Joseph-" I try to plead with him but he stops me, putting a hand on my shoulder, obviously trying to portray himself as calm to Katarina.

"Goodbye, Marina" He says quietly, a hidden meaning behind his words. The implication in his voice brings tears to my eyes. He's saying goodbye, not just for now, but for forever, however long that lasts. He leans down to press a kiss to my forehead one last time, and gives a nod to Katarina before stepping out the door and leaving me.

More tears we'll up in my eyes quickly and I can't help but sob quietly as they finally roll free. Unfortunately, Katarina hears me and turns to me with grief on her face.

"Oh Marina, sweetie" She whispers as I lower myself to the ground as as I continue to sob, and she comes with me. I sit there for so long that I can't remember how much time passes.

After a while, Maren shows up at the door with tears in her eyes also, and i'm sure that she's heard me crying for over the past hour. Katarina continues to comfort me and rub circles in my back.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart" She whispers, and I can tell by the hoarseness that she's crying because of my sadness too. I look at Maren again, and I can feel the anger and sadness that must be in my eyes.

She mouths 'i'm sorry' as her tears finally begin to fall, but I just shake my head as my body wracks with more sobs.

The whole room seems to be filled with people crying, but only my tears are the ones that mean something. They didn't lost anything, they haven't lost the thing that makes them happiest in the world. Their sadness and crying will stop eventually, and that's the difference.

Because mine never will.

 **Emotional chapter, I know. I'm just going to leave it at that. Love you guys!**


	20. Chapter 19

**Hey guys! I just wanted to briefly apologize because last chapter was a little shorter than usual, but I hope you guys still enjoyed in anyway!**

 **I really just want to get into the story so let's start!**

 **Onto the story!**

Marina

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well... you look a little pale, Mar"

"I told you i'm fine"

Maren finally starts to back off, but that doesn't stop her from shooting a concerned look in my direction before turning to the limo driver.

"Are we almost there?" She asks, her voice brisk and on the edge of anger, for whatever reason I don't know, but she's been pretty upset ever since we left the house.

"Yes ma'am" The old man says quietly, and he seems to do it with such timidness that yo would think he's scared of Maren, which honestly wouldn't surprise me.

Maybe she's upset that my endless crying ruined my makeup that she spent hours working on, and that she had to do it all over again. Well, if it is then it's certainly not my fault, she should've thought about that before letting a certain someone into the house without my permission.

My heart constricts again with a surprising amount of force, and I immediately start to taking as deep of breaths as I can, I don't want Maren to be alarmed. I probably shouldn't be thinking about him anymore, after all, i'm never going to see him again, he made that very clear.

Maren seems to have noticed my deeper breathing, but it seems like she decided to ignore it. She probably didn't want to cause anymore commotion, or she just felt guilty again and doesn't want to look like she is.

Her little plan to get Joseph to hate me surely worked, but for some reason she doesn't seem very happy about it.

I'm snapped out of my thought immediately when I hear a door opening next to me. I look over to see our driver not looking either of us in the eye.

"We've arrived, miss" He looks up at me briefly, only to snap his eyes down to his feet again. I sigh with a giggle, and slowly lift myself out of the car.

"Thank you" I say, and I try to give him a encouraging smile to lighten his fear of us, but i'm sure it just comes of as fake, since the last thing I want to do right now is smile.

From the second I step out of the car, I'm hit with freezing chill of the air, and the feeling almost sends my body into a seizure. Goosebumps appear on my shoulder, and snuggle my small jacket closer to my shoulder to try and get them to wear away. Maren looks over at me with a sad look, probably because in a moment. like this she would say a snarky remark, but she can't because she knows it would only make me more upset.

I look away from her antagonizing look and try to focus on walking elegantly. Not like I would usually care about looking elegant, but if all of my chances of a happy life with Joseph are shit, why not give this princess thing a chance?

The great wooden door in front of us opens suddenly, and I jump slightly in surprise. A man in a suit inside looks at me with a grin, and I blush deeply in response. Trying to hide my face, I step inside the door, and lets just say that i'm... speechless.

The ceiling of the palace goes so high that I can only dream how tall this building is in completely in size. The floor spreads out to what seems like hundreds of feet, and it's made out of a pale pink marble that i've only ever seen in cliche royal movies. There are pillars made of the same marble that stretch all the way to the gigantic ceiling. And finally, there's another set of giant door about 50 feet in front of us.

"That's where the prince and the other girls are waiting" The man in the suit says, as he continues to grin at my shocked expression. I smile timidly as I start to walk towards the next door with as much fake confidence that I can. It also doesn't help that the few workers in the room are all staring at me and whispering. I look down whilst blushing again, of course, my stupid cheeks always betray me.

The time finally comes when we're in front of the second door, and I inhale a large breath to refrain from passing out on the marble floor and getting it dirty. Maren looks over at me gently, and rubs my arm encouragingly, before stepping away from the doorway.

"What are you doing?!" I whisper at her, alarmed. She laughs gently and glances at the door as we start to hear them announce my name.

"This is your grand entrance, not mine" She says with a giggle, and I sigh wit teasing anger as I look up quickly when the doors start opening slowly.

"...and now may I present to you... Marina Reyes!"

Scattered applause echos the room quietly as I step into the room nervously, noticing with the alarm that there are only about five people in the room.

The first two are the other girls i'm "competing against" I presume, based on their fancy attire that is very similar to my own. The first one is blonde, with perfect curls of hair that roll halfway down her back, and she doesn't look very happy to see me. Her perfect face is twisted into a scowl, and I bite my lip nervously as my gaze travels to the girl next to her.

This girl looks slightly more inviting than the blonde, who's looking at me with a tender smile on her face, and seems to be holding a happy smirk, which only makes me more self conscious. Do i really look so bad that she doesn't even think I stand a chance? This girl looks almost more gorgeous than the blond, with perfectly straight red hair, that falls onto her shoulders delicately, and there's something about the way she looks that makes her look significantly younger than both the blonde and I.

"Marina, we've been expecting you" Says a deep and melodious voice from behind a very large centerpiece on the table, blocking my view of the man. But when he steps out i'm so shocked that I almost gasp out loud.

He's handsome. Like a little bit extremely perfect.

The first thing I notice is his black hair, the color so dark that it's practically the color of coal. It's swept over to on side, and it looks so perfectly styled yet so messy that it looks like the actual prince charming style. He seems to be toned, but not too muscly that he would be considered buff. But his smile. Oh, his smile is the most charming thing about it all, the way he's grinning at me now should make me forget everything, including my own name.

But for some reason, it doesn't.

He slowly walks towards me, with the same charming grin on his face. He glides so smoothly on his feet it looks like he has wheels on the back of his shoes.

When he reaches me, he grabs my hand and I instantly tug it back in alarm. But, this only makes him smile and take my hand again, while reaching it to his lips to kiss the back of it gently.

"I'm glad you could make it, I got so worried when I was told there was a delay" He says his that smooth and yet rough voice. The texture makes of it makes a blush rise to my cheeks, which only causes his grin to widen.

"Why don't you join us then?" He continues, while gesturing dramatically to the empty seat for me. A small giggle escapes my mouth and I stop it as soon as it starts.

I try to walk to my seat with grace, but i'm sure that I just look ridiculous doing it. Either way, I slide into my seat, trying to smooth down my dress as I do so. I look down at the menu they laid out for us, and I find myself looking at it with wide eyes as I take in all of the immense options.

Buttered lobster with a side of garlic mashed potatoes, Steamed asparagus with a sample plate of shrimp and crab?! Grilled chicken seasoned with cutter and garlic with sides of freshly picked fruits? I don't even know what half of these words mean, let alone what they taste like!

"I would get the chopped vegetables platter, it's amazing!" The red headed girl beside me whispers, I look at her, with the same shocked expression on face, making her dissolve into giggles.

"It's a little extravagant isn't it?" She says, in a very polite and dignified voice, but it still feels like it's a little too old for her.

"If you don't mind me asking..." I begin, trying to copy the more dignified tone that she had used. "how old are you?"

She sighs gently, and shakes her head as if she's trying to clear her head.

"I'm really not supposed to say" She keeps her voice muted, so small that I can barely tell what she said. I'm about to tell her that she doesn't need to say anything, but she keeps going.

"Im supposed to be '16', but... i'm only 12" She whispers again, and this time I almost spit out the lemon water I just took a sip out of.

Twelve? She's only twelve years old? That can't be right, I must've heard that wrong, there's no way they would ask a _twelve year old_ to be wed by this twenty year old man! I thought that me being seventeen was a bit of stretch... but twelve?

"That's... interesting" I say instead, trying to keep my inner feelings hidden, and she blushes under my gaze. I try to swallow down the last of water, trying to drown out the feeling of throwing up.

I tear my eyes away from the small girl, very sure that I don't want to know any more about her, because i'm probably going to faint if I do.

Trumpets suddenly ring through the large walls and dozens of servers enter the room at once, all carrying large platters of food. I look around in astonishment, whispering under their breath.

"How did they even know what I wanted?" I wonder, and my own voice surprises me, since I hadn't been meaning to say it allowed. Suddenly, I hear a low chuckle across the large table, and I look up to see Prince Zach laughing quietly.

"They heard you talking to Ella here" He clarifies, gesturing to the small red headed girl next to me. She smiles shyly as he gives her a sly grin, which makes me want to hurl at the thought of him and 'Ella' being together. But again, Prince Zach turns back to me again and looks at me with an intriguing look.

"Marina, would you like to take a walk with me? I've already gotten to know these other two girls here, I would like to know more about you" He says, staring at me with the same charming goes, in his eye.

"Uh.. Sure" I say, trying to refrain from stumbling over my words. He smiles once more before standing up, and I follow his lead. He walks around table to take my hand, and I loop it through his arm politely. As I start to step away from the table and walk towards the door, I glance back at the blonde in the red dress, to find her glaring at us intensely. Well, that makes one of us here is actually interested in the Prince

As we reach the door, he opens the great wooden door to lead us outside to a very luxurious garden. It's filled with green vines and so many colorful flowers that it feels almost hypnotizing.

"You like it?" Prince Zach asks me with a tentative look, I sigh happily and look around me, feeling oddly at peace.

"Yeah..." I say, my voice coming out in a whisper, barley even audible. Suddenly, I feel Prince Zach turn to be standing in front of me, at a really close, uncomfortably close distance, but I can't find it in me to back away.

"You have...the most beautiful voice" He whispers under his breath, putting his hands on my face and pulling it towards his. I gasp in shock, but again, I feel a strangely odd peace flowing through me. So perfect, that it seems artificial. He looks at me with big green eyes, pale green. Not a good green, not a green like..., like his that shines in both darkness and sunlight. Not a green like... his...so beautiful that I can't even look away from it. Zach's eyes aren't like his, they don't have love in them like Joseph's.

As Zach's face starts to close in on mine, I finally feel the weird trance fade away and J regain my senses. I jerk away from the Princes face so fast that I trip over my dress and fall on the ground.

I look up at him with fear in my eyes, as I see a look of anger flourish in his, but he quickly replaces it with a look of guilt.

"Marina- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you-" He begins, but i'm already raising myself off the ground, and running as fast as I can away from him, as fast as I can get in these stupid four inch heels that my design team made me wear.

I hear Prince Zach running behind me, following at a much faster pace, damn him for not wearing heels. I reach the wooden door and swing it open with as much force as I can muster up. As it finally budges, i'm running across the marble floor. at a faster pace this time since the marble is easier to run across. Everyone in the room turns to me in alarm and all the waiters rush towards me to stop me, but I dodge them as they try to help me.

Both girls are looking at me with surprise, but the blonde girl has more of a happy look on her face, as she leans closer to Ella and I hear her whisper something.

"Told you she wouldn't be able to handle it, poor orphan" She says teasingly, making herself laugh. Angry tears spring to my eyes quickly, but I continue to dash out the second door and through the courtyard of the palace.

With surprise, paparazzi greet me, taking millions and millions of pictures in only a matter of seconds, I turn my head with panic as I start to block my face with my arms to stop them from recognizing me. But i'm sure it doesn't work.

As the tears continue to run down my face, I briefly hear Maren calling my name, but she gets caught in the paparazzi just as I find my way out of it.

As i'm running down the streets, many people turning to look at me in surprise, I hear one last person snap a picture, and they actually catch me looking right at the camera.

What a unique Cinderella moment, Marina running away from her Prince, but the difference is, i'm not running away from my true love, i'm running away from the guy who's supposed to make me forget my real one.

Five days later

Stanley

"I hate her" The sound of the hollow punching bag echoing throughout the huge room.

"I hate her, I hate her, I hate her" Joseph hits the bag again, hitting it with a punch so hard that it makes the punching bag swing really high and hit the ceiling, causing a hole. Another hole, that is, aside from the four others ones he's made in the past twenty minutes of being here.

"Yeah, sure you do man" I say, walking over to pat him on the back. He looks up at me with the worst face i've ever seen someone give another person. His eyes are bloodshot, probably from the reckless turning and tossing he's been doing the past few nights, and there's pounds of sweat pouring down his back. He's been working out so much that he's visibly lost almost five pounds, making him look even slimmer than usual, despite his muscles also growing from the workouts. He's also giving me the death glare that he's been using a lot, unsurprisingly.

"I do hate her" He finally says, his voice coming out in loud pants. Actually, I don't think I can remember that his voice didn't sound exhausted all week. "She's being an idiot" He heaves again, and frankly straightens up so he can grab a towel to wipe down his face.

Honestly, I don't hate her. Which I know might sound a little surprising, since i've hated her ever since the second I heard about the girl, but i'm more pissed at Joe for being such a baby after she "dumped him".

"Your being awfully quiet" Joe comments, looking at me suspiciously. I put a cocky smirk on my face, or really it just appears naturally, but I smack him on the back of the head lightly.

"Ow!" He cries out, clutching the back of his skull in pain, I roll my eyes at him and mock him by pretending to cry out in pain also.

"Owwww" I fake whine, and he looks up at me with another one of his ugly death glares. "And come on, man, that was not a hard hit. All of this moping is turning you into a wuss." I snicker when he looks at me again, but with more of a pout this time.

"I'm not moping" He pouts again, and I look at him with a disgusted look.

"Man, the only thing you've been doing lately is pouting" He rolls his eyes at him with an annoyed look, but I keep going.

"Seriously, I know your mad that this girl-"

He interrupts me with a more intense glare than before. "Marina" He practically growls.

"Marina, decided to run off and be with Prince Douchebag, but when you went over to talk to her you should've tried harder to-"

"To what?!" He interrupts again, looking at me with confusion. "What was I supposed to say, Stan? There's no reason she shouldn't go off and be with that leech" He retorts, replacing his anger with a stone look.

My eyebrows furrow together and I find myself getting even angrier that he's pretending to not care. "No reason? How about that you think she would deserve someone better than him!" I yell, my voice growing dangerously intense. Joseph turns to me in surprise, obviously stunned about how worked up i'm getting.

"Seems that your getting more worked up about this than I am man, are you that you don't have some secret feelings for her?" He grins wickedly, though I could hear the strain in his voice when he said it. I roll my eyes at him nonchalantly, he's seriously starting to piss me off here.

"I think you and I both know the one with feelings here" I whisper angrily, and his reaction is almost instant. His head snaps up and he storms up closer to me, his eyes not leaving mine for a second.

"You better shut up, Stan" He threatens, his voice as low as a growl, and the actual anger in his voice makes me almost back down.

The key word is almost.

"Or what?" I press. "How about I go into the long details of how much you really care about Marina. Let's start with the fact about how messed up you've been ever since you've gone to see her. How about we talk about how _every waking moment,_ your thinking about her! How about the fact that your in love with-"

I never get to finish my sentence.

Wanna know why?

I got smacked in the face.

Really.

Damn.

Hard.

He punched me so hard that blood instantly spurts out of my nose, covering my face with the sticky blood. I look at him with shock, and he only looks at me with a furious face, and It almost refrains me form saying anything more.

There's that key word again.

"What the hell man!" I curse out in pain, wiping the blood away from my mouth as it drips onto it. I suddenly charge at him, ready to use some of those wicked techniques I learned in training the other day in practice when of course, the knight and shining armor walks in.

Little stupid blonde John.

"Hey! What's going on in here" He yells, placing himself in between us with his hands out to separate us.

"Ask little Mr. Punchhead right here" I retort calmly, weirdly glad that he came in between us, I didn't want to kill Joe today, even if he was seriously pissing me off. John looks at Joseph with a tired and surprised look.

"You started this?" He asks in surprise, looking between us suspiciously. Joe finally breaks down his death glare to say one word.

"Yes" He murmurs, and John looks at him with a tired look.

"Fine then. Apologize to Stan" He retorts, crossing his arms over his chest. And looking strangely like a middle aged man.

Joseph looks up in astonishment, anger blossoming in eyes for the millionth time.

"Apologize! He..." Joseph's voice drops off suddenly, and just stares at me.

"He what?" John pushes, trying to get Joseph to continue, but Joseph just glares.

"Nothing"

John looks at him with furrowed eyebrows, before a look of realization crosses over his face. He looks to me with a 'seriously?!' look, but I just shrug my shoulders.

We all stand there in awkward silence for a while until John sighs and runs a hand through his messy hair.

"I know this may not be a great time, but I found this today" He murmurs quietly, before pulling out a picture out of his jacket pocket and reluctantly handing it to Joseph. He takes it out of his hand quickly, before pausing for a moment when he actually takes the time to look at it.

He lets out a small chuckle before tossing it to the ground, causing a look of surprise to sprout on Johns face.

"Why would I want that?" And when he looks up, his eyes have absolutely no emotion. He finally turns around and walks out of the room calmly, and I look at John in confusion. I bend over to pick up the picture, before sighing in non-surprise.

It's a picture of Marina. Running down the streets while holding up her purple dress as she sprints. Tears are pouring down her face and she looks absolutely awful. I almost feel a pang of sympathy for her, before I look at the bottom corner of the page.

November 27, 2018.

Five days ago.

And who do you know went over to her house that day?

Mr. Punchhead.

 **Hey everyone, I hoped you enjoyed the chapter! I know things aren't going well right now... but that'll be solved...eventually. And I hope that you liked meeting Five and Ella! Anyway, don't forget to leave a review!**


	21. Chapter 20

**Hey guys welcome back! I know I haven't updated in forever, so i'm just going to get right into the story, and hopefully you all enjoy.**

 **So, onto the story!**

Maren

"Hey cutie, what's happening!" I hear more hollers come from the direction of the whistling jock and I roll my eyes as they laugh at my non-amusement.

Ever since the big situation with Marina and Prince Zach's dinner last weekend, you could say that we've been pretty popular at school lately.

And by we, I mean Marina.

Marina shyly tucks a strand of hair behind her ear when she hears the boys howling again and blushes uncontrollably.

"Shut up, assholes!" I yell across the courtyard as they continue to mock Marina picking up her dress and the mimics her sobbing as they run to class. The boys look at me in fear as they scramble to pick up their books and run inside the building. Anger and guilt boils up inside of me for having to see Marina going through this constant cat-calling and teasing.

"You didn't have to yell at them, Maren" Marina whispers under her breath, but also having an annoyed edge to it. "I can handle them myself"

I roll my eyes as I swing the front door of the school open, only to be engulfed by crowds of people. "Yeah, cause it sure looked like you were handling it so well" I say, my voice dripping in sarcasm. Her face tenses in anger at my words and she opens her mouth to say something before she's shoved harshly into the middle of the hallway.

Everything seems to freeze as Marina stands in the center of the giant hallway with everyone else at least ten feet away from her. Marina looks around slowly at the whole student body as they study her every move.

Some girls are staring in envy at all the attention she's been getting, some are laughing at her embarrassment. And the boys are the same way, they either are mocking her or dreaming of having her. But a two boys don't seem to being doing either.

Joseph and his big muscled friend, Stanley, I think his name is. Joseph looks at Marina with no emotions on his face, his usual warm and happy eyes are stone cold as he stares at her without moving. Usually I would feel anger at him even looking at her, but instead I feel a different feeling in my gut that feels a lot like pity.

Before I can even realize what the feeling means, i'm shocked out of my trance when Stanley moves from Joseph's side to go and stand next to Marina. There's an audible gasp from the students and if the situation were different, i would've laughed about it. But Marina just stares at Stanley in shock as he puts a hand gently on her waist and gestures her to walk forward with him and as she still looks at him with confusion, she follows.

I look to Joseph and I see that his stone facade has cracked just enough for me to see he's even more confused about this than I am, if that's possible. With anger, I storm up to Joseph as I push through the crowd and come to his side.

"What the hell is he doing?" I ask Joseph furiously, and he jumps slightly and looks at me with astonishment, like he didn't see me walking up to him. He hesitates for a moment, and i think that he might just not talk to me and pretend i'm not there, but he finally decides against that.

"How am I supposed to know?" He says, his voice bubbling with an emotion i've never heard from him before. It sounds a lot like anger, or maybe... jealousy? But that doesn't make any sense, who does Joseph have to be jealous about when it comes to Marina?

"Well," I finally say, regaining my anger and turning to him with a harsh look. "Tell your burly friend to stay away from Marina" I say it with as much vile as I can, which is why i'm surprised when I hear him let out a dark chuckle as his eyes continue to follow Marina and Stanley as they awkwardly walk down the hallway.

"I've heard that sentence too many times" And his voice is empty of emotion again, and I feel an urge to ask him what is up with him right now, but before I even get a chance to even consider it, he turns on his heel and storms away without a word.

Ms. Durand drowns on for what seems like hours as she explains on quadrant equations, a topic that I already completely understand since she's been going over it for days. I'm in Algebra Two, which is average for a senior, but Marina is in advanced Geometry because she's such a smartie. Which leaves me completely alone in my average class with a bunch of dumb people. Which unfortunately includes that smart ass Stanley guy who thought it was okay to just march Marina down the hallway and in front of the entire student body.

He sits in the desk in front of me, which is somehow something that I have never noticed until now. Tapping his pencil impatiently, he wags his head back and forth like he's listening to music. I roll my eyes angrily as he does nothing but sit there, but it infuriates me so much that I feel like punching him in his huge gut.

Losing my patience, I kick my foot hard into one of the legs of his chair. The force is strong enough to send him spiraling to the floor, and causing all of the students to look at him. Including Ms. Durand.

"Mr. Williams, I find it very inappropriate for you to cause a distraction in the middle of my class. Please, get back in your seat" She lectures sternly, and the class snickers quietly as Stanley lifts himself off the floor and back into his seat. He waits for Ms. Durand to turn back to her whiteboard and continuing to ramble on, before turning to look at me with a harsh glare.

"Do you have a problem?" He whispers harshly under his breath so Ms. Durand won't hear him. I glare at him intensely and my eyebrows furrow with anger.

"Yeah, I do" I respond, purposely talking at a louder volume than his whisper.

"Well what is it?!" He says in angry confusion, forgetting to whisper. Ms. Durand turns around once again with an intense stare. And everyone around us watches in interest.

"Ms. Straub, is there a reason that Mr. Williams here seems upset with you?" She asks, crossing her arms and tapping her fingers on her forearm impatiently.

I put a sickly sweet smile on my face, knowing my strategy at once. "Ms. Durand," I begin with an innocent and offended tone. "He was trying to steal my answers from the worksheet and I told him that it was a very irresponsible thing that he was asking me and he got angry" I say with a shameful tone and looking at him sadly. He continues to stare at me as he shakes his head, not believing what I was doing.

I smile one last time and look at the grumbly teacher one last time. "I was only trying to stop a cheater, Ms" I say, batting my eyelashes. My whole charade wouldn't have worked for anyone else, but since all the teachers know me as the daughter of Ruler government members, they know not to argue with me.

She looks at me with a sad smile, and whether she actually believes me or not, she chooses to follow along.

Turning to look at Stanley with another angry look, she points her wrinkly finger at him with precision. "Principles office" She seethes with anger as she barks the last word at him, "Now"

Stanley's eyes surprisingly widen in regret and looks at her with something like a look of apology, before whipping his head around to shoot a glare at me. He storms out of the room, if you could call it that, he walks slowly but you can tell that there's anger radiating off of him.

The entire class sits in silence as they watch him walk out and shut the door behind him. Ms. Durand huffs one last time before putting on an obviously fake smile and turning to the class happily.

"Now, where were we?"

The rest of the goes by normally, other than the fact that Marina is ignoring me. She's probably upset that Stanley had to stick up for her in the hallway since I didn't. But trust me, I wish he hadn't done it either.

I'm just grateful to get out of school, since today has probably been the longest day of school ever. But when I remember my after school plans, school sounds much more appealing, so I decide to wait outside of the classroom where Marina does her tutoring students session like the smart girl she is.

I slump to the floor against a bright red locker and blow air out of my mouth in boredom. I watch as a few students pass by, people who are going to a sports event or who just missed the bus, as I count the seconds that go impatiently.

10 seconds, I throw a rock at the stone column that sits directly in front of me, and it bounces back to me.

20 seconds, I do it again.

30 seconds, I do it _again._

40 seconds, I throw the rock and wait for it to roll back. But it doesn't.

Nope, what happens is that it's caught by a strong hand and snatched out of the air right in front of my face. I jerk in surprise, thinking that no one had been paying attention, and jerk my head up to see the guy i've seen a little too much of today.

"What do you want Stanley?" I say, making sure to make my unhappiness very clear. He crouches down next to me and shoots me a sharp look.

"What I want is to know why you have a problem with me" He says calmly, even though he's obviously not calm at all. I sigh and play with a loose string on my jeans.

"I think it's obvious why I don't like you, don't you?" I say sarcastically while pulling myself to my feet. He stands up too and and forces a laugh.

"You mean it's because I had the guts to stand up for your friend and you didn't?" He says, laughing like he made some hilarious joke. My face flushes with anger and I shove him hard in the chest.

He stares back at me with astonishment, "What's your problem?" He says, but i'm already storming down the hallway.

I'm tired of people yelling at me because I didn't do something. I didn't stand up for Marina because i'm not supposed to cause trouble since i'm the treasured government daughter. Of course I wanted to help her out, but getting in trouble with my parents is more important than that.

I scramble through my bag until I can find my phone, and I yank it out. I dial the number that I haven't dared call ever since this whole problem with Joseph and Marina started. It rings four times before it stops and a deep voice comes from the other end.

"Hello?" It sounds melodious and seductive, as it always does and it makes me shiver with uncomfort. But, I clear my throat and try to take control of my voice and make it sound happier than I really am.

"Hey, it's Maren. You busy?"

Marina

"Maren? Hello? I need a ride, remember? Call me when you get this" I hang up the phone and sigh angrily. I've tried calling her five times and she's not answering. She knows I have tutoring sessions on Thursdays and she just ditched me.

I try to calm myself down and take a few deep breaths so I don't start screaming out loud. The entire day i've been thinking about how mortified I was when the entire school was staring at me. It felt like a million tiny holes were being drilled into me, and then to make it even worse, Joseph's friend of all people stood up for me, the one who supposedly hated me. Everything just doesn't make sense at all right now and it's really kinda freaking me out.

"Hey, you need a ride?" I look up in confusion to see John, (again, of ALL people) sitting in a black jeep, staring at me with a teasing look. What's with people laughing at me today?

"I don't think so" I reply unsurely, and he narrows his eyes at me.

"Were you planning on walking home then?" He says sarcastically, and it causes me to giggle.

"I just... don't think you should give me ride. Maren would have a heart attack if she saw you" If she's even at the house, that is. But it still feels like a bad idea to let John anywhere near my house again. John realizes this too, and his jaw tightens at Maren's name, but he still shrugs.

"I can handle her" He says, and despite the light look in his eyes, I feel like there might be something he wants to tell me, so I just laugh in return.

"If you say so" I walk towards the car and swing the door open, while stretching up to climb inside. I shut the door, and he immediately pushes the gas, speeding off campus.

"Woah there John, take it easy" I say jokingly, and he gives me a sideways smirk.

"Well, if Joseph sees me talking to you, he'd kill me" He says with a light tone, but it still sends a wave of pain through me. "I'm sorry" He continues, when he sees me looking down and playing with my hands lightly.

"No, your right. He probably doesn't want to see me" I mumble, not looking up from my lap. I hear John sigh next to me, as if deciding whether or not to say something, but he apparently decides he should.

"You really like him, don't you?" He asks, not to be teasing, like he's really just curious. I feel my cheeks heat up, but I duck my head lower so he doesn't see it.

"Does it matter?" I can feel his eyes on me again, and he reaches over to put a hand on my knee. It surprises me so much that I accidentally look up at him. His eyes are filled with a sad look that I haven't really seen him wear before.

"Don't look at me like that" I say, trying to sound confident, but i'm sure it comes out more like a whine then a statement.

John looks at me with understanding, and takes his hand off of me knee and reaches it up to scratch his neck.

"You know, I never would've pictured it. You, the free and perfect Marina Reyes being upset over Joe, the carefree and happy dude who was the newest member of..." He trails off, knowing better than to say that word where anyone driving by could hear him.

"Yeah, well everything turned out a little unexpected didn't it?" I say, trying to force out a laugh to stop myself from being upset. He sees the fake ness behind it though but ignores it.

"You could say that. Actually..." He starts, before abruptly cutting himself off, and a look of regret crosses his face, and I faintly realize that he chose not to say whatever he was going to say. I look out the window quietly, thinking the conversation was over until he speaks up again.

"Actually, he's never acted the way he does when someone brings you up" I sigh, not liking what turn the conversation is taking, and i'm about to interrupt when he continues.

"Sure, I mean, when someone brings you up now he mainly looks angry. But before... everything happened, he would always light up whenever I teased him about talking about you all the time. But i'm not really sure what's going on anymore, he always brushes me off when I tell him to talk to you-" He continues to ramble but that catches me off guard, and I straighten up sharply.

"What do you mean you talked to him about me?" I gasp, and John looks up in surprise like my voice wasn't supposed to be there. He looks confused but continues talking.

"I just-"

"You shouldn't talk to him about me, not anymore. I screwed things up and he shouldn't have to deal with me ever again" I started talking quietly, but by the end of my sentence I was yelling. John almost jerks back in surprise but tries not to look too surprised at my outburst. I shy back in my seat, embarrassed about how angry I got so suddenly, but John just focuses his eyes on the road, and doesn't say a word for the rest of the ride.

We finally pull up in my driveway after what seems like years, and I immediately swing open the door and slide out of the car.

"Marina! Wait" I turn around to see John look at me with a pained expression, and it gives me a feeling like I can't breathe. If I see another person looking at me with that pity, I think I might throw up.

"I'm sorry this happened, all of it. It's... it's partly my fault. I shouldn't have told Joseph to stay away from you, and i'm sorry" He spills out, looking out of breath. Well that would make two of us. Without responding, I turn around and walk quickly to the porch of my house, and throw the forms door open and scramble inside.

I hear John's engine start again after a few minutes, and slowly drive away from the house. I can feel my throat close up slowly, but I choke the feeling back down. I'm done crying over this whole damn situation, i'm going to fix it.

I hear a faint yell from across the house, and I turn to it quickly.

"Marina, are you home?" I hear Mrs. Forrest yell, and I shout back as I grab my jacket from the chair in front of me.

"Yeah, but i'm heading out again!" I shout back, as I reach to grab for the car keys on the hook next to the door, before I remember that Maren has car. I just ditch the jacket and my backpack from school. It looks like i'm going to have to run. Fine by me.

I open the door again eagerly, weirdly giddy even though this could very well be the worst day of my life. But I need to get everything figured out, i'm done waiting for things to get worked out on their own, i'm doing it myself.

Time to go to Joseph's and get my living hell of life, together.

 **Hope you guys enjoyed! Sorry again for updating so late but i'm back in the game again! And i wonder what's going on with Maren... anyway, don't forget to leave a review and i'll see you guys next time!**


	22. Chapter 21

**Hey everyone, welcome to my favorite chapter so far! This chapter is just full of fun and emotion and I just think it's an amazing chapter so let's just get into it.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Lorien Legacies and blah blah blahhh**

 **Onto the story!**

Marina

"It's cold in here, did you guys bring me a blanket?" I'm greeted with three death stares after my question, and I shrug, wrapping my arms tighter around my body.

"It was just a question" I mumble under my breath. Mr. Straub looks at me with a hard glare while Mrs. Straub, I mean, Liz, puts her head in her hands while she sighs angrily.

"Marina, I don't think you understand the seriousness of the situation" She says through her teeth, and I wince at her tone of voice. I look over to Maren to see her looking at me with a disappointed expression, but it's definitely different than the looks her parents are giving me. She knows what's really happening, and that i'm doing what I do best, lying to protect someone else.

Suddenly, I hear heavy footsteps outside of the door and all of our heads turn. Two men walk through the door with their full uniforms on, badges and all. Marens parents stand quickly with politeness and look at them urgently.

"So?" They say quietly, trying to get the officer to indicate how much trouble i'm in.

One of the men sigh heavily and sit down, causing the chair to shake. "Well let's start with the obvious. This young lady could very easily be tried with charges of assault..." And they continue to ramble on and on.

Here we go.

 _2 hours earlier_

My feet hit the pavement hard as I sprint as hard as I can towards one of my favorite neighborhoods.

The resistance headquarters.

I've been running for about five miles already, but my exhaustion is washed out by the urge to see Joseph. Even though my legs feel like they might as well fall off, I need to keep running.

Huh, I guess those years of track really did pay off.

I round one last corner, and suddenly I can see the ominous black building where i've gone to so many times. I trot, oh who am I kidding, I walk to the big sliding door on of the building and I raise my arm to knock before I hesitate.

I realize now that literally anyone could answer the door, and out of the hundreds of resistance members, I only know about three. And i'm not sure if any of those three would even let me in. I sigh angrily at the flaws in my plan and return my hand at my side.

I turn away to walk, until I have a sudden realization. I RAN this entire six miles to see Joseph, and i'll be damned if I have to run back again without seeing him, and if I do see him maybe he'd give me a ride...no probably not. He probably hates me too much for me to even touch his car.

Feeling a sudden urge of confidence, I knock on the door quickly, and maybe a little too hard, because I hear a stunned "woah" from behind it, and the door shuffles open.

"Hi, excuse me I was looking for- Stanley?" My rehearsed monologue in my head is interrupted when I see a familiar face staring at me, and trying back to hold back his laughter.

"Is that... your little... speech you had planned out?" He wheezes out in between howls of laughter. I roll my eyes and cross my arms defensively over my chest. He continues to laugh at my defensiveness, and I just tap my foot impatiently until he slowly stops howling.

"I thought it was great" I say, tightening my arms over my chest and and he continues to grin at me happily. Ever since earlier today when he came to save me from the entire hallway situation, he's been really nice to me, and I find myself feeling confident around him.

"Sure you did, princess" He replies, still trying to hide his grin. "Princess" is his new nickname that he granted me earlier today, and let's just say it's my least favorite thing about our new little friendship.

"Anyway, I was wondering if I could-" I start, but I stop myself when I hear another set of footsteps on the other side of the door. Stanley looks to see who's behind him and I hear another chuckle when he sees them.

"Stan, who are you talking to?" I know that voice. I haven't heard that voice in _so_ long. Stanley shines one last of his oh so charming grins before adjusting himself so he's no longer leaning on the halfway open door.

"See for yourself" He says, and Joseph begins to say something when Stanley shines the sliding door the rest of the way open, making Joseph able to see me. And me being able to see him.

And boy, he's not change one bit.

He's still just as carefree and happy looking as ever, before his eyes land on me that is. And his hair is messy on the top of his head, with his t shirt ruffled like he just was in a wrestling match. You know what, I take that back, he has changed. He got even hotter than he was before.

His eyes finally adjust to what he's seeing and when he sees it, you'd hope that it would be happy, or excited, interested, or curious. But you know what I saw, red hot anger.

He turns away quickly to storm away, when Stanley reaches out and grabs him to stop him. Stan starts to whisper in Joseph's ear, probably to say something private concerning me, but I can make out faintly what he's saying.

"I know that you don't want to talk to her, but you and I both know you've been really messed up after this whole fight with her, so you need to hear her out"

I can't see Joseph's face, but his back muscles tense as he turns to look at him, probably with a hard look.

"How could it mess me up when I don't care about her" His words make me flinch so hard I think I might faint, and it hurts my heart to hear him talk to me like that. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves and for a second I see him loosen up, like he's remembering that i'm here and that I just heard what he said.

Stanley's face gardens as Joseph talks and then turns his head to look at me. His expression quickly changes and bites his lip while he proceeds to check me out... which kind of freaks me out until he winks at me, and I understand what he's doing.

"You know what, fine. If you don't care, then maybe I should shoot my shot because damn she is fine" Stanley says, looking at me up and down multiple times. For a split second Joseph turns to look at me, before pushing Stanley farther into the building by shoving him in his chest.

I hear Stanley faintly laugh from inside before pulling on a sly voice. "If you don't care, why are you still jealous?" He says with a teasing voice, and steps to walk away before winking at me and saying "Good luck, princess" And he turns on his heel and walks away.

I stand in from for the door awkwardly, as Joseph continues to face away from me, and for a minute I think he still might walk away. But he hesitantly turns around slowly, and looks at me with a cold and dead look in his eyes.

"Marina" He says, and the deadness of his voice as he says it sends shivers through me. The way he used to say it made me fill with light, and now it makes me feel nothing but sadness.

"Joseph" I say cautiously, I take a small step in his direction, but he backs up one step further into the building. "Can we talk outside?" I continue, and he looks like he's about to say no, but he nods his head and we slowly go outside.

"So, what's up?" He says casually, and I have to refrain from my urge to hit him. Bipolar, I know, since I was so upset earlier. But when I think about how he never gave me a chance to explain this whole mess, it's only led to thousands of tears. He's made me miserable for nearly a month and i've been sobbing over someone who didn't even let me explain what had made them upset.

"You know what, I hate you!" I yell, probably way too loud for good measure. Joseph looks at me in obvious surprise, and it's the first emotion i've actually seen out of him, which only makes me more angry.

"You didn't even give me chance to explain myself when you saw that ad in the newspaper, you didn't let me get a single word in! And now that I think about it, why do you even care that i'm in this competition? It doesn't affect you at all!" I pause slightly, taking a deep breath, but only so I can continue to yell.

"Do you know what i've had to go through in this competition, alone?! I've had to go to these ridiculous business dinners with these stuck up bitchy girls that hate my guts cause they want to win this competition that I didn't want to compete in! I had to stand there and let that prince try to kiss me and-"

Joseph suddenly straightens up, and looks at me with an intense look, like he finally cares about what i'm saying. "...He kissed you?" He asks with a sharp edge in his voice. I sigh in frustration, how thick can he be?

"He tried to! But that's not the point, the point is that you weren't there for me to tell you about it!" I yell in one large breath, but my voice cracks at the end, and his cause Joseph to look up at me again, with concern in his eyes, but my brain won't let me focus on that.

"You weren't there for me to tell you about him trying to kiss me, and how much I hated it! Maren isn't ever there for me cause she wants me so badly to win this stupid thing and marry a guy that I couldn't ever love!" My yelling is getting quieter with every word, and before I know it, tears are rolling down my cheeks in waves. I see heartbreak in his eyes, but I can't stop talking.

"I just want someone to be there for me! To not only care about me being a princess or what my hair looks like. I want my best friend back..." I sob at the end, and I try to turn away from Joseph, trying to not let him see me cry. But I feel strong arms wrap around me tightly, and I hear Joseph's breath warming the top of my head.

"Shhh. It's okay, i'm here" He whispers gently into my hair, and I feel him press a small to my forehead. I try to slow my breath to keep me from crying, and it slowly evolves not small hiccups before it slows completely to a stop.

I raise my head up to look at Joseph and press my hand against his chest to get him to back away from me, when I notice that he winces when I do it. My eyebrows furrow in confusion until the realization dawns on me.

"Take off your shirt" I order him, and he looks at me with a sarcastic grin, and let's out a chuckle.

"Marina, we're in public" He says fake-sheepishly, but there's a hardness behind his voice that tells me there's more to it than a sarcastic comment.

Hiding my worry, I roll my eyes at him, but still get more tense. "Just take it off!" I say, with a little too much force because it startles him into mumbling something before reluctantly lifting his shirt over his head.

And when he does it reveals a dozen bruises of multiple colors across his chest, and I audibly gasp and raise a hand to my mouth.

"What happened to you?" I say, and I turn away from him slightly to get to bruises out of my sight, because thinking about them makes me want to throw up.

"It's nothing. Just a training match that got a little out of hand" He reasons, and I scoff at him, while trying to choke back more damn tears.

"A little?!" I say in surprise, and he opens his mouth to say something but is cut off by a shout coming from a few feet away from us.

"What happened to you, man?" A male voice shouts, and Joseph and I both turn to him in surprise. When I turn, I see a man that look slightly older than Joseph and I, and he's looking at Joseph's bruised chest in alarm.

Joseph gets paler and I can see him trying to come up with an excuse. "I- uh just, um" He stumbles, and the man looks at him patiently.

My heart races quickly when I realize what made Joseph so nervous, Joseph can't tell him that he only got bruises training, because that risk exposing the resistance. I make a spontaneous decision and whirl around to him quickly.

"I was just warning him what would happen if he cheated on me again" I say, looking at Joseph in anger, well, fake anger, but still. Joseph looks at me in surprise, and I hear a shocked laugh distantly. In confusion I look above Joseph's head to see Stanley watching us from a window and laughing. I'm going to kill him later.

The man looks at me in shock and points to Joseph nervously. "You did this?" He asks questioningly, reaching into his pocket to grab something, but I think nothing of it and continue.

"Yup. And I would do it again" I say, getting threateningly close to Joseph and I try to stare up at him in anger, but he's trying to hide a smile and it takes a lot in me not to laugh. The man backs up from us slowly, and pulls a phone out of his pocket.

He dials a quick number before I hear a voice on the other end. "911 what's your emergency?" I take a sharp inhale and step towards to man to stop him, but he cautiously puts a hand in front of him. "Yes, i'm on Melrose and Park Avenue, and I have a right to believe that i've encountered an abusive relationship... Yes that's great, thank you" He quickly ends the call, and I can already hear police sirens going off.

I look at Joseph in panic, I can't get arrested! I was just trying to protect him, not end up in jail. Joseph looks at me hopelessly and shrugs his shoulders. The sirens become louder and I can already see one coming towards us, well, there goes any hope of escaping.

"Your going to jail, you psychopath" The man spits, before hopping into his car that I didn't notice was parked next to him, and driving away. Is that even legal?! I don't think it is. But it doesn't matter because three cop cars suddenly pull onto the side of he road.

"Young lady, I think you need to come with us" A cop says, while stepping out of the car. I back up slowly, trying to think of an excuse, but this time I think of nothing.

"Please... just give me a chance to-" I begin, pleading with them, but he just shakes his head in shame, and grabs my right arm and jerks me around to connect it with my left. I hear Joseph make an angry noise, probably upset with the officer for hurting me, but I shake my head at him slightly to tell him keep quiet. He reluctantly steps back, but still looks at me with sad but grateful eyes.

I suddenly feel cold metal on my wrists, and briefly remember that they're probably handcuffs.

"What's your name?" The officer asks me hushed in my ear. I swallow and look across the lawn to see a few resistance members coming out of the building, probably wondering what's going on. Among them I see John, who's looking at me in confusion, and Stanley, who has a wide grin on his face.

"Marina Reyes" I say to the officer, and i'm ashamed of how wimpy my voice sounds coming from my mouth. But in my defense, getting arrested is pretty scary.

"Marina Reyes you are under arrest, for we have reason to believe that you can be charged with assault" The officer yells, addressing the people across the lawn, so all the Resistance members can hear him. John looks even more confused, but Stanley looks at me proudly. And as i'm being forced into the back seat of the police car, I see him mouth, 'Thank you, Princess' and I give a sly smile, the nickname making me feel slightly better. And I take one long look at Joseph before he disappear behind the black window.

In a way, protecting him was almost worth being arrested.

 _Present Time_

"You are _very_ lucky that we were able to bail you out, Marina. Or you would be in massive trouble." Mrs. Straub scolds as we climb into the family's red convertible.

"I already told you I was sorry" I plead with her, but quietly because I don't want to make her any more upset than she already is.

"Sorry isn't enough!" She yells, before realizing her volume and calming down slightly and looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry, but you know tonight was important"

For a second, I need to remember why tonight was important, and then I realize that I was meeting with the Prince tonight, on our first private date. To be honest, I don't really care that I missed it, but that wouldn't make her feel better so I stay quiet.

"I guess we will have to reschedule" Mrs. Straub says finally, and I don't respond, since her tone indicates that the conversation is over.

I open my window, to try and get some fresh air into the stuffy car. And for a moment I feel peaceful, but it's short lived when I hear Maren clear her throat beside me.

'What were you thinking?' She mouths at me, looking even more infuriated than her parents are. But I nonchalantly shrug my shoulders and turn to look back out the window. I'm still not quite in the mood to talk to her, considering what happened earlier today.

I blissfully watch everything past the window quietly, and relax as we get closer and closer to the house, where I can finally just go to sleep and rest after this insane day.

Hopefully, this whole ordeal fixed Joseph and I. I've missed being friends with him more than i'd like to admit. I hope that he chooses to forgive me for everything that's happened, and can even help me through what's going on with the whole Prince thing. Oh yeah, the Prince. Well, that's something that we will have to deal with later, I guess.

I'm about to close my eyes when I spot a person taking out the trash in the yard of the Resistance building. Joseph. I happy smile slides onto my face naturally from seeing him, and I see him glance at the car, and when he sees me he smiles at me in relief. I smile back and quietly laugh in pure happiness.

'Are you okay?' He mouths, and I nod my head slightly and his face breaks into another look of relief. I have Joseph back, and weirdly this has been one of the most exciting days of my life. So trust me, i'm more than okay.

I'm perfect.

 **Hey everyone! I hope you all liked this chapter, and Marina and Joseph are friends again! I'm so excited, I hated writing them against each other lol. I hope you all enjoyed and don't forget to review! See you guys next time!**


	23. Chapter 22

**Hey everyone thank you for the major love on the last chapter! I had a lot of fun writing it I am very happy that you guys liked reading it! I've recently been very re-inspired in this story and have great ideas for what i'm doing next in it and I think you guys will enjoy it! Also, sorry I haven't updated in forever, i've been superrrr busy but i'll try to be better!**

 **Now, Onto the story!**

Maren

"Hello? I KNOW that you're in there, Marina! Hey, if this is revenge for me taking your last piece of toast then, i'm sorry!" My pounding continues to ring through the house, and I hear screams of complaint from my parents down the hall, but I decide to ignore them.

I suddenly hear Marina's scream from inside our shared bathroom, and I jump back in surprise. I hear her murmur to herself and lean closer to try and hear her.

"I can't... what am I supposed to... but I don't want... should I...?" I hear more and more scrambled words through the doors and I get frustrated and swing the door open.

"Maren! What the hell is wrong with you!?" Marina shrieks as she turns around so i'm facing her back, my eyebrows furrow in confusion and I lightly touch her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" I say timidly, trying to be gentle, when i'm actually pissed she's used up my bathroom time this morning.

She huffs in frustration and slowly turns around to look at me. "Do I look okay!?" She screams in my face, while rushing over to the mirror to pat herself down.

"Yes?" I say hesitantly, making sure its the right answer, and I can't tell if it is or not because she still looks upset.

"Look at my hair! Has it always looked this flat?" She panics, scrambling through drawers for a hairbrush probably, even though her hair looks like it always does.

"You've never had a problem with your hair before" I say slowly, reaching down to the bottom cabinet of drawers to hand her the missing hairbrush. She takes it reluctantly and starts combing it through her hair in frustration.

"Things are different now" She mumbles under her breath in anger and I turn in confusion.

"What's different?" I reply reluctantly, and she looks at me in surprise like she forgot that I was here. She immediately blushes and looks down.

"You know, everything with the Prince is going on and stuff" She rambles quietly, not meeting my eyes. I roll my eyes, turning to look in the mirror, and take the brush from Marina to brush out my hair.

"Yeah, right. You've always sucked at lying, Mar" I say, and she looks down sheepishly and tucks hair behind her ear nervously. "Now tell me what's really up"

"I don't suck at lying" She mumbles quietly, and I hold back a laugh. "It's nothing important." She states simply, and I roll my eyes while reaching for a hair tie and bending over to throw my hair up into a ponytail.

"Yeah, cause you always scream through the house over your 'unimportant issues'" I mock, and she hits my arm, but her eyes are still distracted.

"You wouldn't want to hear it" She says simply, while leaving the bathroom quickly to find something to wear to school.

My heart seems to beat a little faster when I realize that she's saying that there's something about Joseph that's making her freak out, and I hate to admit that I still want to admit that I want her to confide in me and give her boy advice, even if it is about Joseph.

"If it's about Joseph, you can tell me" I say loudly, following her out of the bathroom. She looks up from the clothes she was picking through in surprise.

"I can?" She says suspiciously, hesitantly looking at me through her eyelashes. Honestly, she has every reason not to trust me when it comes to him, but i'm still her best friend, and I want to know about all of her boy trouble.

"Obviously" I say nonchalantly, trying to appear cooler on the outside than I am on the inside. She looks at me hesitantly before blushing and nervously picking through clothes again.

"Well, you obviously know that last nights whole 'i went to jail' thing happened because I was trying to protect Joseph. And on the drive home, I saw him out the window." She rambles, and I try to follow along.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I ask tentatively, and she looks at me like she's annoyed I haven't gotten the point yet.

"Well, I was just looking at him and thinking that-" Shes suddenly cut off when my mom bursts into our room quickly.

"Girls, there's someone here to drive you" She pipes in and then smirks at us while twirling her curly black around her finger. "And he's quite the cutie" She says, winking at us before exiting the room. Marina and I look at each other in confusion, until I have a dawn of realization and deeply sigh. Here we go.

I calmly walk out of the room to get to the door, and I hear Marina shout in frustration behind me. "I don't know what to wear!" She screams, and I turn around quickly and look at her impatiently.

"Wear your blue tank top, it makes your eyes pop!" I yell back, hoping that's enough to calm her down for now. I hear a low chuckle behind me, and I spin on my heel quickly to see an all-too-familiar face.

"Blake!" I whisper shout under my breath, running towards him to push him out of the house. He laughs at my nervousness but follows me out of the porch and I shut the door.

"What on earth are you doing here! I only told you my address in case of emergencies!" I yell, well, I whisper yell again since I don't want anyone aware he's here.

"You haven't come by in a while, I missed you" He replies in his low, seductive voice, and I have to resist from visibly shuddering. He smirks at me while reaching out to stroke my arm, but I pull away.

"My parents are here, you shouldn't have..." I trail off, when he reaches out to slowly push a loose strand of hair away from my face, stroking my neck in the process.

"...Love you too!" Someone shouts from behind the closed door and I quickly spin away from Blake right as it swings open. Marina walks through, in her blue top, and her smile immediately drops from her face when she sees Blake.

I see in my peripheral that he waves slightly at her, his everlasting smirk still on his face.

"Maren... who's this?" She says curiously, studying him up and down. Blake steps forward and seems to be doing the same thing to her as he reaches out his hand.

"Ryan, nice to meet you" He winks at me before grabbing Marinas hesitantly outstretched hand and kissing it gently. Marina looks at him in surprise and shoots me a confused look, and I shrug in response.

"And you're... a friend of Maren's?" She asks, and he looks up at her with a sly smile.

"You could say that" He says, turning away from her to walk past me, and to a large black Jeep that I didn't notice was parked in our driveway.

"Little ladies, i'm your ride to school today" He muses, grandly opening the passenger door and gesturing for me to follow. I hesitantly do, and Marina follows me and hops into the back seat quickly. Blake smirks at Marina's excited expression, and pulls on a lever to roar the car to life.

"I like this guy"Marina leans over and whispers in my ear. I give her a small smile, but inwardly groan. If only she knew.

"So, Blake. What do you do?" Marina asks what must be her hundredth question. Blake smirks at me via his side mirror and then looks back at her with an innocent expression.

"I'm a bartender down at the grill on Sienna" He says cooly, and Marina looks at him in surprise.

"A bartender? How old are you?" She asks in confusion and I give her a pointed look.

"Mar!" I scold her, and she looks down sheepishly while Blake just laughs easily.

"It's alright. I just turned 21" He says casually, and even though the fact that he's already twenty one is obvious, Marina's jaw still drops and I elbow her quickly so she can shut it.

We sit in silence for a minute until we pull into the schools parking lot, and I hear Marina groan from the backseat.

"Here we go again" She mutters angrily under her breath, and I frown. I forgot about how rough yesterday was with Marina, and how today will probably be just as bad or worse.

"What?" Blake says in question, but Marina shrugs him off.

"Nothing" She says quietly, but i'm already explaining the problem.

"Everyone at school has been giving Marina a hard time lately" I begin, waiting to see if Blake remembers Marina from her pictures in the paper. He looks at me with realization and opens his car door.

"Then let's change that" He says simply, shutting his door and gesturing for her to follow him. She does in confusion and walks to meet him in front of the car.

Sure enough, most of the entire school is staring at the two of them in awe, surprise, envy, or laughter. Before Marina stops walking, Blake reaches out to take her hand, and spins her around and into his arms before kissing her on the cheek.

Marina pulls away in surprise and looks down while blushing. My mouth drops open as I watch the entire student body gasp in surprise. They all start whispering among each other and I open my car door and charge up to Marina.

"We're going to be late for class" I mumble angrily under my breath and Marina follows me instantly. I turn to look back at Blake and he winks at me.

"She's cute. Bring her with you next time" He whispers, and I try to give him a smile when I feel like puking. Yeah, like hell i'm doing that.

I rush Marina and I past swarming students while I hear them whispering around us.

"Is she with that guy?"

"What happened to the Prince?"

"How old is he?"

"He's hot"

"Marina?" The last one pulls me out of my daydream and my head snaps up at the sound of the voice. Sure enough, Joseph is standing there, trying to grab Marina's arm and pull her out of the chaos surrounding us.

I reluctantly let her pull her away from me and I follow them out of the swarm of people. I look to see Joseph leading us over to his burly friend, Stanley. Oh, how I hate that guy. He looks at me with a smirk while he leans against a pillar of the school. He nods at Marina and grins.

"Sup, Princess" He says happily, and she sighs in frustration but still gives him a small smile. He then looks me over and scoffs, "Wicked bitch of the West" Joseph and Marina look at him in alarm while I roll my eyes.

"That's the best you could come up with?" I retort, and he snorts.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Marina asks, gesturing between us. I scoff and look him up and down like he did to me.

"Unfortunately" I mutter, and I see him smirk. Marina continues to look at us in confusion, but is also smiling brightly at me. I look at her in question, but she just continues to smile happily and turns to Joseph.

Oh yeah, Joseph. I forgot I didn't like him. Or Stanley. Then why am I standing here talking to them?

"Right, well, Marina. We should probably go" I say, taking her arm to drag her away from Joseph. She sighs unhappily like she knew it was coming, but Joseph stops me.

"We have our next class together, I can walk her" He says, looking at me evenly. I stare him and reach out to re-grab Marina's hand, but he stops me.

"You know what, fine. Walk with him, Marina. Doesn't change the fact that you're marrying a _Prince"_ I say pointedly looking at Joseph, and his stare falters slightly. Marina cringes at my words, but I still spin on my heel and walk away from them.

Man, it sucks being the bad guy.

Marina

Joseph and I walk in an awakward silence as we make our way to our chemistry classroom. I fidget with my hands nervously as Joseph walks in pure silence.

"Some great weather we're having right?" I say, gesturing to the sun outside. Joseph is quiet for a moment before chuckling.

"You've resided to weather talk, huh?" He says quietly, and I gently nudge his shoulder.

"Would you rather I talk about the news?" I say sarcastically and he laughs again, bringing a smile to my face easily.

"No, I guess not" He says, his laughter dying down while his head drops slightly, probably thinking about what Maren said earlier.

"If this is about what Maren said then-" I start until Joseph cuts me off.

"It's fine. She's not wrong, is she?" Yes. She couldn't be more wrong.

But instead I say, "No, I guess not"

We fall into another awkward silence quickly and we walk quietly. How far away is this classroom, I never remembered it taking this long! As we round another corner, I finally see the classroom and sigh in relief as we enter, but the peace is short-lived.

"Hey princess!" I hear eagerly from behind me, and I roll my eyes naturally.

"Hey Stanley" I say unenthusiastically, and he pretends to be offended.

"Is that any way to greet your favorite smoke show friend?" He says, gesturing to his body. I raise my eyebrows teasingly.

"Oh, is John here?" I say happily. His smile drops and he ruffles my hair and I start laughing. Being with Stanley is nice, and even though i'd never admit it to him, he really is a good friend.

"Don't you mean Joseph, sweetheart?" He says innocently, and I smack is shoulder as he laughs.

"What about me?" Joseph's unmistakeable voice says firm behind me. I turn around quickly and I feel my face heat up.

"Nothing" I say a little too quickly, and he looks at me in suspicion.

"Okay..." He says hesitantly, taking a seat on the other side of me. Stanley smirks and leans to whisper in my ear as Joseph turns around.

"You're blushing..." He says teasingly as I shush him. He just shrugs and smirks that oh-so innocent smirk. I shove his shoulder and he sticks his tongue out at me.

"You two are like little kids" Joseph says while chuckling. I look between him and Stanley innocently.

"You know, you're right. He's like an annoying brother" I tease, and Stanley glares at me while Joseph and I laugh at him. He pouts quietly as he sits down in his chair next to me. The bell rings suddenly, marking the beginning of class. Joseph and I a,so take out seats as Mr. Brimmington walks in.

Mr Brimmington is my favorite teacher out of all of the ones I have. He's lived in the same neighborhood as Marens family since before I moved in with them. So, i've practically known him all my life. I remember when the news of my parents deaths first came out that he had brought me my favorite flowers.

"Good morning class!" He says happily, while winking at me in the process. "Today were going to actually be doing something fun, today we're going to have a lab day"

As soon as the words leave his mouth, the entire class whoops happily and Stanley and Joseph reach behind my head to high five each other. I roll my eyes at their boyishness and they just chuckle happily.

"So, everyone pick a partner and grab some lab coats!" Mr B. finishes and students immediately start shuffling around. The boys both stand up quickly and I hear them start talking at the same time.

"Marina, you're with me"

"I call being with Princess"

I look back at them to see them having an intense stare down between each other and I giggle happily.

"Why don't you two just go with each other?" I suggest, and they both tear their eyes from each other at the same time to look at me.

"Because your smart!" They both yell in unison again, and they look at each other cautiously. I burst out laughing at their insane timing skills and they both like at me at the same time again. This causes me to start laughing even harder and they eventually both start laughing too.

"That's so weird" I pant out in between laughs, I can feel that my face is red and is starts to ache from laughing so much so I try stop myself. I'm somewhat successful and start only occasionally giggling.

"You're a maniac, Mar" Joseph chuckles while ruffling my hair. I swat his hand away from me easily, when I hear someone's throat clear directly behind me.

"Yesssss" I say, while still giggling. Everyone around me has gone silent and I look around in confusion to see Stanley looking intensely at the person behind me. I turn quickly in confusion and I see no other than Prince Zach standing there.

Usually he would look odd standing next to a group of high school students, considering his fancy clothes he wears all the time. But instead of wearing a suit, he's wearing light jeans with a black V neck. He looks, well, like a normal high school guy.

"It's nice not seeing you all dressed up" He chuckles, the lopsided grin on his face still as present as usual. I quickly compose myself, trying to make myself look more dignified.

"Your highness, what are you doing here?" I reposed, speaking with a loud and clear voice that Maren taught me to use. He laughs lightly and takes a step closer to me, and my heart speeds up quickly, but i'm not sure if it's from fear or nervousness.

"You know I told you to call me Zach" He says lightly, grabbing my hand and raising it to his lips gently to kiss the back of it. I hear girls swooning happily behind me, and I try my best to not roll my eyes at them. Instead, I smile at Prin- Zach, sweetly while he continues. "As for what i'm doing here, I wanted to speak with you about something. Could we talk outside?" I look at Mr. B for approval, and he mods his head slightly i'm my direction.

I also spare a glance at Joseph to see him watching me with intense eyes, that are filled with no emotion, and so much emotion at the same time. I tear my eyes from his to look back at Zach.

"I would love to" I say, grabbing the arm that he had extended for me. And with that, we exit the classroom gracefully.

"You didn't have to come all the way to my school for this" I exclaim, while Zach leads me out to the school courtyard, which is newly covered in flowers. He laughs and shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly, and for a second I truly appreciate how attractive he is. With the sun shining in his light brown hair that's blowing freely in the wind, he looks like one of the most gorgeous people i've ever seen. He seems to notice my staring and smirks at me, and I look away from him, blushing.

"Yeah I did. This isn't exactly something that I could tell you over the phone" He replies, and I smile at him and raise my eyebrows teasingly.

"Are you hear to break up with me?" I say sarcastically and with a low voice, causing us night to laugh. It briefly crosses my mind why I feel so comfortable around the Zach, considering last time we were alone he tried to kiss me. But the thought leaves my mind as quickly as it came and I find myself just enjoying it.

"No, quite the opposite actually" He responds, and I look at him with a raise eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" I question innocently, and he unlatches his arm that was holding mine to stand across from me, causing us to stop walking.

"Marina, you are an extraordinary girl. Even though we've only known each other for a short while, and this is somewhat of an arranged relationship, you make me feel something different than with the other girls. You make me feel much more... myself. The part that is only a seventeen year old guy, and not the part that's a Prince. And well, I want to feel that way for the rest of my life" He confesses. He pauses for a second before lowering himself to the ground and getting on one knee.

A gasp escapes my lips, and I cover my mouth with my hand. My heartbeat quickens to a pace that I didn't think was possible, and I start to shake. Zach, however, sees this as a sign of happiness, and pulls out a small velvet box.

"Marina Reyes," He says breathlessly, opening the box to reveal a diamond larger than life itself. And it's made for me. "Will you do me the greatest honor, of marrying me?" As the words leave his lips, he shines a smile so bright that I almost believe that our love is real.

Slowly, I painfully force a smile to my face. And breathe out a words of extreme power.

"Yes" It comes out as a whisper, but he hears it and happily slides the ring onto my finger. She stands up quickly, swinging me around in his arms. My emotions and the spinning are almost enough to make me throw up, but he just continues to hug the life out of me. He drops me onto the ground once more, and stares at me with huge, sparkling eyes. Then, he leans down and kisses me.

I always thought that my first kiss would be the happiest moment of my life, not the scariest. Reluctantly, I kiss him back gently, and pull away, hoping to just have all of my emotions come off as overwhelmed.

Suddenly, I hear car tires squeal on the pavement, and paparazzi crews jump out of their cars and a million blinking lights flash at once.

Through the lights, I can see Zach smiling happily at them, and I try to absolute hardest to mirror his emotions. He looks at me with one last smile made of pure adoration, happiness, and promise.

A promise of our future together.

 **Holy moly! I know that y'all are probably furious with me, but trust me this only the beginning. So, Blake is back, baby! And looks like we have a royal engagement on our hands...**

 **Don't forget to review dear readers and i'll see you next time. Xoxo.**


	24. Chapter 23

**Hey y'all wassup! So, after the last chapter it looks like we have a few problems on our hands, don't we? But, what would a story be without some conflict, right? So, buckle up ladies and gentleman cause things are about to start getting intense. Lol. I love scaring people. and i'm SOOOO sorry for not updating for more than two months... yikes. Exams and stuff were just super hard and i was studying daily but i SWEAR i'll be better. btw R.B. stand for Resistance building!**

 **Now, onto the story!**

Marina

The same thoughts continue to keep pulsing through my head. The fear and panic i've been feeling since I first saw Zach refuses to fade away.

Why is this happening to me.

It could've been anyone else.

Why me?

"Are you alright, Marina?" The voice comes from right next to me, but it still feels like a million miles away. I nod my head as I turn to Zach distantly.

"I'm fine, just overwhelmed" I say sheepishly, concealing my sadness. I must hide it really well since Zach doesn't question anything, and simply takes my hand. We're currently in Zach's limo, on our way to the palace to get me settled in.

The last hour has been too overwhelming to process. Was it really only 45 minutes ago that I was joking around with Stanley and Joseph? It feels like it was centuries ago. I can still feel the muscles in my face aching from laughing so hard. I can still see their heartbroken faces when they saw me with a massive diamond on my finger.

 _The cameras continued to flash faster than I could keep track of, and it felt like I was getting dizzier with every time that they flashed. My head was pounding from fear, holding in tears, and anger. But, I smiled until my face thought it was going to split open._

 _I distantly heard a bell ring and immediately students flooded the courtyard. They had probably all heard the gossip that Prince Zach was here, and they were all probably ecstatic to see us happily together, but they obviously weren't prepared to see the diamond that shimmered in the sunlight on my finger._

 _There were girls screaming happily, boys hooting and hollering at us, and a few scoffs. People were whispering all sorts of things around us, and even though they were all at least twenty feet away, I could hear them all._

" _Oh my gosh, she's so lucky!"_

" _Maybe she isn't just a little goody two shoes"_

" _Do you see that ring? It's bigger than anything i've ever seen in my life!"_

" _Why would the Prince choose her?"_

" _She's so gorgeous!"_

" _Wow, look at you Princess"_

 _The last one snapped me out of my lightheaded daze and I swallowed in shame. I turn my head simply and slowly to make myself appear less obvious. When I did, the whole student body erupted in cheers, and started waving to me frantically. Still showing grace, I wave my hand gently and shoot them all a dazzling smile. Among the crowd I see Maren, who's beaming the largest at me, looking like she might cry. I give her a timid smile, when all I really want to do is slap her for doing this to me._

 _Then, I see both of them._

 _Stanley, with his arms crossed over his chest and looking at me sadly. My smile involuntarily falters and I swallow the lump in my throat to keep from crying. He gives me a slightly shake of his hand and blows me a kiss, and it's enough to cause a teary eyed smile come back to my face._

 _Then, him._

 _He's not even looking at me at all, he's looking at Zach, who's arms encircle my waist and are holding me close to him. He refuses to look up and meet my eyes, and continues to stare angrily at the prince, and angrily is a bit of an understatement. He looks infuriated._

 _I tear my eyes away from him before I start bursting into tears. What made me think I could do this? I can't give up Joseph, I think that I-_

 _No, I can't think like that. He was just my friend, that's all. I have a new job now, and that's to serve my county, and marry Zach._

 _And besides, what's so bad about Zach?_ I think while I continue to stare out the window, almost in a trance. My thoughts seem to smush together when I try to connect the rest of them.

"Are you sure you're alright?" I hear Zach say beside me again, and I turn to give him a winning smile.

"How could I not be?" The words feel fake coming out of my mouth, but it's enough to convince him. He turns back to his conversation with our driver with nothing more than one squeeze of my hand.

After a whirlwind of being swept into the oh-so-fabulous palace once again, i'm given a full grand tour of the building. From every closet to fancy dining rooms. I tell my guides that i think it's a little excessive that I need to know where they keep old shoes and ratty old clothing, but they say it's necessary.

After an hour of the tour, I tell them i've had a long day and that I need to lay down and relax in my bedroom.

"Your bedroom?" A young woman giggles, and I raise a delicate eyebrow in confusion. After seeing me look, she continues. "You'll be rooming with the Prince, Miss Reyes"

Normally I would feel panicked at the thought, but the days events have numbed my brain from feeling anything at all.

"Really? Well, would it be alright if I temporarily had a separate room? A guest room, perhaps? Only until the wedding" I speak in the most formal voice I can form and the young girl looks almost ashamed of my questions. She blushes a deep red and mumbles something and she gestures me to a nearby room.

"It would have been nicer if we would have known-" She begins quickly.

"That's alright, i'm sure i'll manage" I reply easily, and that's an understatement. The room is four times larger than my old bedroom at least, and had a long marble floor that leads to a grand bed that must be twenty feet long.

My first thought is that I'm still going to share a room with someone, but then I remember that this is how royals live, and that it's a bed that is only meant for me.

I gesture the maid to leave, and she does so in quick and small footsteps.

Turning to look at myself in the mirror, I sigh in exasperation. I've never looked or felt so worn out. Maybe it's just because this is new to me. At least, that's what i'm hoping. It better be. After all, this is my life now.

 **John**

"John? Helloooo, earth to John?" Sarah's melodic voice rings in my ears and drowns out my other thoughts.

"Sorry, I was a little..."

"Distracted?" She says with a light giggle.

"Yeah" My eyes travel around the room, searching for Stanley and Joe, who have yet to return from school.

Sarah sighs and gives a small shrug of her shoulders. I flick my eyes to hers and give her an apologetic smile.

"What is it that you were saying? About Yale?" I ask, trying to keep up the conversation that is suffering because of me.

"Oh, right. Well, I got accepted right before I joined the Resistance, and I had to decide which one meant more to me, school or the Resistance and i'm sure you can tell that... John, we can do this some other time"

Shit. I was losing focus. Again.

"No! I really was-"

"Listening? Sure you were" Sarah starts to stand up, grabbing her training bag that was hanging off the back of her chair.

"I really am sorry. I just-" I start, scrambling to my feet.

"I know. And it's okay" She flashes me a smile that would make a guy feel butterflies, if that guy was someone other than me. But, I still give her a smile back as she walks out of the training room.

Sarah really is a nice girl, and I like talking to her, but i'm starting to think that she likes me more than I like her. And in any other circumstance, it make me feel on top of the world. In any world that I wasn't still hung up a certain raven haired girl.

The daydreaming wasn't just part of the fact that I wasn't interested, it's because Stan and Joe still haven't come back, even though school ended an hour ago and all the other Resistance members attending school came back already. I asked them why Stan and Joe weren't back yet and all they did was give me a sad look and a small shrug. Normally I would just think that Stan found a strip club and dragged Joe along, but this felt different.

I decide to wander over to a cafe across the street and grab food, since the guys were supposed to bring home dinner for me and failed to do so. I'm walking to the cafe right outside the main Resistance building when I see a mob of people crowding inside of it. I walk closer and open the door to see them all watching a tv intently. Tv's are rare after the great war, so they're now only found in public places. Still, i've never seen such a huge crowd fighting to see one.

I push my way to the front of the mob to try and get a look of the story that a female news reporter is covering. Just as I reach the front, the entire crowd shrieks in excitement, and I look at the screen.

There's been a proposal, it shows a guy, who can't be much older than I am, proposing to a girl with long brown hair, and she's holding a hand in front of her mouth in shock. Her eyes are almost bugged out of her head and she makes a slight nod of her head, and the whole crowd erupts into cheers once again. The girl takes the hand away form her mouth for the guy to slip the ring onto her finger and I finally recognize the couple.

Marina and Prince Douchebag, as Stanley would say.

But no, that can't be right, Marina would never say yes. She wouldn't ever marry that guy because... well I guess she has no reason not to, other than the fact that he's the son of an evil dictator. The crowd is gossiping wildly about the two of them, whether it's complements or critiques, they're the source of all gossip. I shove myself out of the crowd and out the door, gasping, relieved to be able to breathe fresh air again.

Joe. I realize after I can actually breathe again. He must feel absolutely devastated. I mean, Marina and him weren't together or anything, but I really thought that they were into each other. No one makes that much of an effort to see each other to only be friends. But this whole engagement thing must be why Joe and Stan are no where to be found. Joe's probably heartbroken and isn't much in the mood for talking to anyone, and Stan went after him to make sure he doesn't do anything idiotic.

My feet start automatically taking me back to the R.B, until I see two large figures coming towards me down the street. In fact, it's the two knuckle heads themselves.

"Hey guys" I say cautiously, approaching them slowly. Joe looks up at me with red-rimmed eyes and snorts out a laugh.

"I'm not a wild animal, i'm not going to attack you" He responds flatly, his eyes drifting to the crowd in the cafe, laughing as it shows an image of Prince Zach with his arms around Marina.

"Is he drunk?" I ask, turning to Stanley in question. He just shrugs and gestures to the screen in the cafe again.

"No. But ever since," He trails off, giving Joe a sideways glance. "that, happened. He's been acting like he's on crack.

"Hey, that's rude" Joe responds, but he doesn't seem to be paying attention to either of us anymore. A tall blonde girl inside the cafe has caught his eye and he gains a devilish look as he steps toward it.

"No, buddy. I don't think your in the right state of mind for that" I say, catching him around us shoulders and holding him back. To my surprise, he shoves me off violently and turns to stare at me intensely.

"After the day i've had, you _really_ don't want to try and stop me, John" He threatens, his voice low and gravelly. Then suddenly, he relaxes and pushes me away gently. "Just let me have some fun" He says, laughing hysterically, even though nothing happened.

"You know what, I have a great idea" Stanley says suddenly, and I give him a warning look.

Joe, on the other hand, thinks it's great and responds, "If you're thinking what I think you are..."

Stanley gives us a wild grin, and pats us both on the back roughly.

"Yup" He ruffles both of our hair and puts his arms around our shoulders. "We're going clubbing"

 **Maren**

"Are you sure that you want to go out tonight, honey?" My mom asks for what must be the hundredth time. "With Marina's engagement and all-"

"Mom, i'm beyond thrilled for Marina, I really am. And i'll go and see her tomorrow at the palace, but someone invited me to go out tonight a few days ago and I want to keep my promise" Technically, that's half true; i really am "excited" for Marina, at least sort of. But I really just need to get out of the house tonight and be distracted.

"Okay honey. If you're sure" My mom sighs dramatically, clearly trying to guilt me into staying. But in this case, it's non-negotiable. My mom finally walks out of my bedroom and I grab my phone off of my unmade bed, and dial a quick number.

He answers the phone on the second ring, with his normal and constant purr.

"Couldn't stay away from me, sweetheart?" There's voices on the other end of the phone, so I try to keep my voice low.

"You wish. But I need a night out" I respond casually. I never thought I would see the day that I asked Blake to take me out, but special days count for special measures.

He chuckles quietly and whispers into the phone. "What were you thinking?"

I think for a second, what was I thinking? Just because it was- just because I felt alone didn't mean I should call Blake to make me feel better. Blake never makes me feel better. Why would that be the case now? But I didn't really seem to have many options.

"Bouncers. Pick me up at 8" I whispered back into the phone in the same tone he used, and them hung up. Maybe she didn't need comfort, maybe she needed a night of drinking and dancing to take her mind off of things.

I flipped through my closet to try and find a dress that was equally sexy yet comfortable. Fashion wasn't really her thing, it was Marina's, But she had a feeling she wouldn't really be around to help Maren with fashion much longer. But that isn't that something that she wanted to think about.

I finally decide to just grab a random dress out of the back of her closet and slip it on. It was black and the dress was tight at the waist and flows down to the top of her thigh. It's a little short, but it will do. Something about the dress seemed familiar, but I decide to just brush it off.

I try to apply a little makeup, and fail miserably. I decide to stick with mascara and lip gloss, the two things that I actually know how to use.

Before I know it, it's 8 and Blake is pulling his fancy car into the driveway. I quickly grab a small jacket and slip out the front door with only as much as a shout goodbye to my mom. I jog to the car quickly, with a winning smile on my face, feeling a weird sense of deja vu. I scold myself while stepping into the car. _Stop thinking about him._ This was her night, and she to be happy, she told herself.

Blake smirked back at her as she stepped into the car, and they drove away without talking.

They pulled up to the front of the club after almost an hour of driving since the club was a town over, but it was so worth it.

It was the most fabulous place i've ever seen. There's girly in shiny dresses everywhere, and guys hooting and hollering at them while they dance in tables. There's neon lights flashing across the dance floor while everyone jumps up and down to the loud music blaring through the speakers.

No rules, no expectations. My kind of place.

I wait for Blake to open the door for me and I slide my bare legs over the leather seats to step out. When I do, I can hear a few wolf whistles of guys outside the club, probably smoking something. Blake chuckles at them and pulls me into him, slinging his arm around my shoulders.

We stroll into the club after showing our fake ID's to the bouncer, or rather, my fake ID (thanks, Blake), and I immediately get absorbed into the music. I drag Blake out onto the dance floor, but he tells me that he needs a drink first, so I send him to get us some tequila. When he's gone at first, I just stand on the dance floor awkwardly, until some girl gives me her unfinished glass of a clear liquid and I drink out of it, that seems to loosen me up.

Most people say that they're vision and thoughts get cloudy after they drink, but mine do the opposite. Everything seems so much clearer, and my thoughts are much stronger. I begin to dance with a random stranger to the fast beat of a rap song, if you could even call it dancing. Awe just continue to jump up and down and pretend we know the words.

In the deep parts of my mind, I have a faint thought that Blake still hasn't come back, and I think that he's been gone for a while, but time could just be passing slower than I think. Or maybe it's faster, i'm not really sure.

I stumble out of the sweaty crowds of dancers and wobble to find a seat at the bar, only to see Blake making out with a redhead chick on the couch a few feet away. Whatever, I'm not really in the mood to remind him of our relationship, he's probably to wasted to remember.

I turn to the bar and open my mouth to order, only to find a jumble of giggles fly out. At he barista looks at me with a bored look, probably experiencing this same thing with every girl tonight. I try to regain to composure and open my again, but someone beats me to it.

"Just a beer for me, and a shot of tequila for the lady" The person says next to me, the voice seems faintly familiar, but that's probably the alcohol talking.

"I can speak for myself-" I cut off when I turn and see who it is. Only my least favorite person in the world. Stanley.

"Can you? You seemed to be having a little trouble with that" He smirks at me as the barista slides his drink to him and he takes a swig of it. I frown, but I have a feeling it only looks like a pout, because Stanley just laughs at me. You know, he might have a nice smile if he wasn't so irritating.

I try to stand up, but I fail miserably and stumble into Stanley's arms, and i'm too wasted to mind it. He stands me back up and looks me up and down.

"You're really messed up aren't you?" He asks, not to offend me, but because he's genuinely confused. I ignore his questions when a horrible thought enters my mind.

"Wait. If you're here... then... does that mean...?" I trail off, but Stanley seems to understand and looks down.

"Yeah, about that..." He stops when he looks above my head (curse being so short) and spots someone. Out of nowhere, he turns and walks away from me, and walks over to what looks like an unconscious Joseph on the floor.

Stanley and Joseph. That means...

"You know, that was always my favorite dress on you" His voice sends shivers through me, and I turn around very slowly.

John looks oddly disheveled. He usually looks so perfectly put together, but tonight he has a totally new side to him. His t shirt is wrinkled at random areas, and his hair is messed up and is sticking up in random places. He looks...

Like the hottest he ever has.

I shove the thought deep down and swallow loudly.

"Really? I didn't remember" I try to offend him, but he only smiles at me with those stupid perfect teeth and perfect lips.

"Sure you didn't" He whispers, pulling me to follow him onto the dance floor with him. My brain keeps telling me no. But my heart and so many other things are telling me yes. So, I let myself go with him.

We go to the center of the dance floor, he puts him arms around my waist as a slow song comes on. Why are slow songs playing? It's like the DJ is intentionally trying to screw me over. Reluctantly, my arms go around his neck and he pulls me closer to him.

"So what are you doing here?" I say, clearing my throat multiple times so I don't stumble over my words. He surprisingly stops smiling and grimaces at the floor.

"Joe. He's kinda messed up over some things" Some things, aka Marina, aka the fact that Marina got engaged today to someone who wasn't him. I really tried to not think about how the whole thing was affecting him, but she had to face it eventually. And the best way to do it was probably being drunk.

"Yeah, he must feel awful" I mumble under my breath, hating the words coming my light but also meaning them at the same time.

"You know, I really don't hate Joseph" She started saying, words tumbling out of her numb mouth. "Really, id love him for Marina if he wasn't... you know... but he's a really nice guy and he seems to care about her a lot. Enough to get wasted over her. Maybe I shouldn't have set Marina up the prince" I make a noise that sounds awfully a lot like a whimper, and John's arms tighten around me immediately.

"It's okay" He says, dropping a light kiss on her forehead.

"No it's not" I sniffle. "When they asked me about potential matches for the prince, Marina came to my mind and I just said it. I thought he was going to hurt her, just like you hurt me" John tenses at that, but doesn't say anything.

"She's so unhappy" I continue. "She hates the prince, he makes her uncomfortable and he tries to force himself on her all the time"

"He does?" John's voice is tight, and this is probably making him hate the prince even more. Maybe that's good, everyone should hate him. I sure do.

"Yeah, he does. But that's not even the worst part" John braces himself for whatever I say next, she can tell by the look in his eyes.

The music has already changed into another song. An upbeat and happy song, but John's arms stay around her and she doesn't object.

"She's in love with Joseph. She loves him so much, and she won't even admit it to herself. Because she can't even have him anymore. She doesn't want herself to think of what could've been. It's so sad" John's eyes are filled with intense sadness and my eyes are welling with tears.

"And it's all my fault" I sob, and suddenly I can't hold it in anymore. I cry I cry long and hard and bury my face into John's shoulder. John holds her close to him and let's me cry. He doesn't try to tell me that i'm wrong, that it isn't my fault, because he knows it is. Everyone knows it. I wish wish my whole being that I could take everything back, and let Marina have her boy. The boy she loves so much. Who she won't even admit that she loves, because she can't love him. Not anymore.

Suddenly, I feel a hard stab on my shoulder. I wipe my eyes, sure that my mascara is smudged all over my face.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Blake says angrily yanking me out of John's warm arms, and I already miss them greatly.

"I was just... catching up with an old friend" I reply quietly, and I feel John's eyes watching me and Blake intently.

"Yeah i'm sure that's all you were doing. You bitch!" It comes faster than usual, his hand leaves my face as soon as it touches it. The slap doesn't surprise me, but I still whimper in pain and I clutch my cheek. I don't even have a second to get a word out of my mouth before John is tackling Blake.

They both fall over onto the dance floor. People step away from them with surprised gasps, all of them whispering and pointing at them, but I can't look away from John.

He has Blake pinned to the ground and is punching him in the face over and over. Blake's face is twisted in unnatural ways as he tries to fight John back. But John fights for a living, Blake doesn't stand a chance, and they both know that. Maybe that's why John stops only after a few punches. He grabs Blake by the front of his shirt and yanks his face to his one.

"If you ever touch her like that again" John whispers, his voice deadly. "I will kill you" He enunciates every word perfectly, and then shoves his head back to the floor, stands, grabs my hand, and we storm out of the bar.

We find Stanley holding up an unconscious Joseph already waiting for us next to a black car in the front of the club. Stanley smiles at us, but then it quickly drops as he looks behind us.

"Guys, who's that?" He asks, caution in his voice. We both look and see a very, very angry Blake searching the parking lot, for us. He spots us and shouts angrily, sprinting towards us like a deadly animal.

"In the car! Now!" John shouts. Stanley acts on instinct, swinging open the back door and throwing Joseph inside, climbing in immediately and slamming the door behind him. I only stand there, frozen. Watching Blake run towards me.

"Maren!" John screams, he's already run to the drivers side of the car and I dizzily stumble into the passenger seat, and John fires up the engine and were gone in a second. I can still hear Blake screaming at us. I cover my ears with my hands and squint my eyes shut, trying to stop the desperate tears from falling. I'm so dizzy and filled with emotion, and I can feel myself blacking out. The last thing I feel before I drift into unconsciousness is John's hand rubbing circles on my back and whispering to me.

"It's okay. You're okay. You're safe now."

 **Let me just say, wow. Just wow. This chapter was a lot, but I really wanted to show you what was going on with Maren and John's lives. Sorry it ended up do morbid.**

 **But, don't forget to leave follow, favorite, and review!**


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